What do you think?
Rate this book
Train to Trieste
In the summer of 1977, seventeen-year-old Mona Manoliu falls in love with Mihai, a green-eyed boy who lives in Brasov, the romantic mountain city where she spends her summers. But under the Ceausescu dictatorship, paranoia infects everyone; soon Mona begins to suspect that Mihai is part of the secret police. As food shortages worsen and her loved ones begin to disappear, Mona realizes that she too must leave. Over the next twenty years, she struggles to bury her longing for the past, yet she eventually finds herself compelled to return, determined to learn the truth about her one great love.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
About the author
Domnica Radulescu
32 books47 followersDomnica Radulescu won a national prize for a volume of short stories when she was twenty, just before she fled her native Romania during Nicolae Ceausescu's dictatorship. She settled in the United States as a political refugee in 1983.
She is a Professor of French and Italian Literature and Chair of the Women's and Gender Studies Program at Washington and Lee University in Virginia. She has authored and edited numerous books, collections and articles on Western classical and modern theatre, women and comedy, exile narratives, representations of women in literature and culture, and performance studies. She has worked in the theatre, directed numerous plays and is the founding director of The National Symposium of Theatre in Academe.
Her first novel Train to Trieste won the Library of Virginia Award for Best Fiction. Black Sea Twilight is her second novel. She lives in Lexington, Virginia, with her two sons.
She is a Professor of French and Italian Literature and Chair of the Women's and Gender Studies Program at Washington and Lee University in Virginia. She has authored and edited numerous books, collections and articles on Western classical and modern theatre, women and comedy, exile narratives, representations of women in literature and culture, and performance studies. She has worked in the theatre, directed numerous plays and is the founding director of The National Symposium of Theatre in Academe.
Her first novel Train to Trieste won the Library of Virginia Award for Best Fiction. Black Sea Twilight is her second novel. She lives in Lexington, Virginia, with her two sons.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 111 reviews
October 1, 2009
One feels that there is a LOT of the author in this book. She brings out both the beauty and the ugliness of Romania. During the years leading up to the 1989 revolution, there was a justifiable culture of distrust amongst friends combined with a strengthening of family bonds. This is brought out so well by the writing of Domnica Radulescu. Eventually, the contrasts with American society, and its very different values, are brought to the fore, and you'll come to truly understand the meaning of the Romanian word, "dor."
Having many Romanian friends, but having only been to Bucharest on my numerous business visits to that vast country, the descriptions in this book serve to reinforce the message of those friends: I must travel to the Carpathian Mountains, or down to the Black Sea coast, if I am ever to fully appreciate their land.
This is an absorbing story which is brilliantly narrated.
Having many Romanian friends, but having only been to Bucharest on my numerous business visits to that vast country, the descriptions in this book serve to reinforce the message of those friends: I must travel to the Carpathian Mountains, or down to the Black Sea coast, if I am ever to fully appreciate their land.
This is an absorbing story which is brilliantly narrated.
July 8, 2010
Wow.
This was exactly the book I was searching for -- a book that brings the beauty of the Romanian landscape, the consciousness of the contemporary Romanian with all the poetic perspective that comes so naturally through the language, with an American sensibility to honestly portray the harrowing daily trials of life under tyranny, and wraps it all up with an uncharacteristic dollop of hope. I use the word "uncharacteristic" because there are so few Romanian authors brave enough (American enough?) to evoke hope in their writing. After forty years of communist suppression, Romanians still don't even feel comfortable talking with an American about the daily specific fears, sacrifices, and pain of life under Ceaucescu, or the unstable years following his execution. Not that people didn't have these fears, but it had been illegal for so long to express them. Poets and writers became accustomed to using their language, rich with metaphor and poetry, to express their thoughts indirectly. Radulescu is one of only a few authors I've so far discovered who is disclosing the inner consciousness of the contemporary Romanian honestly, staring into the face of contemporary history, unflinchingly placing herself within it.
Her bittersweet love story had me crying in public as I read. Her chapters on her experience as a political exile, her identification with refugees of all nationalities, her ability to "miss" a country she'd only ever read about, her refusal to seek out other Romanians in exile, and her troubled marriage all shed valuable insight I hadn't considered before. Radulescu calls this a novel, but it's so fluent and naked, I can't help but think it's almost all memoir.
I've heard she's about to publish a second book, Black Sea Twilight, but I can't find it yet on any American sites. Sign me up for that release; I'll go anywhere Radulescu takes me.
This was exactly the book I was searching for -- a book that brings the beauty of the Romanian landscape, the consciousness of the contemporary Romanian with all the poetic perspective that comes so naturally through the language, with an American sensibility to honestly portray the harrowing daily trials of life under tyranny, and wraps it all up with an uncharacteristic dollop of hope. I use the word "uncharacteristic" because there are so few Romanian authors brave enough (American enough?) to evoke hope in their writing. After forty years of communist suppression, Romanians still don't even feel comfortable talking with an American about the daily specific fears, sacrifices, and pain of life under Ceaucescu, or the unstable years following his execution. Not that people didn't have these fears, but it had been illegal for so long to express them. Poets and writers became accustomed to using their language, rich with metaphor and poetry, to express their thoughts indirectly. Radulescu is one of only a few authors I've so far discovered who is disclosing the inner consciousness of the contemporary Romanian honestly, staring into the face of contemporary history, unflinchingly placing herself within it.
Her bittersweet love story had me crying in public as I read. Her chapters on her experience as a political exile, her identification with refugees of all nationalities, her ability to "miss" a country she'd only ever read about, her refusal to seek out other Romanians in exile, and her troubled marriage all shed valuable insight I hadn't considered before. Radulescu calls this a novel, but it's so fluent and naked, I can't help but think it's almost all memoir.
I've heard she's about to publish a second book, Black Sea Twilight, but I can't find it yet on any American sites. Sign me up for that release; I'll go anywhere Radulescu takes me.
August 1, 2012
The beginning and the end were the weakest parts of this book. I wasn’t captured by the young romance of the beginning nor the final explanation of all the events summarized at the end. Still, I really enjoyed my time spend with this book. Life in Romania under Nicolae Ceausescu in the 1980s, the perils of emigration and life as a Romanian emigrant, all are perceptively described, emotionally and intellectually. I felt I was there experiencing the main character’s confusion, weariness, worries, anger and joys. I truly felt the author captured real life experiences. This is a book about how life really is, and it is not often that a book of fiction captures this so genuinely. The characters are real; they do what people really do. This does not feel like a book of fiction! And there are many wonderful lines.
After reading this book I feel I understand life under Ceausescu. Do you want to understand this Romanian experience, then read this book. The audiobook narration by Yelena Shmulenson was excellent.
After reading this book I feel I understand life under Ceausescu. Do you want to understand this Romanian experience, then read this book. The audiobook narration by Yelena Shmulenson was excellent.
February 19, 2020
Tai nebuvo labai jau lengvai gliaudenamas skaitinys, norėjosi jam atiduoti savo susikaupimą ir laiką. Vien faktas, jog šiame romane nemažai autorės autobiografijos, lyg ir įpareigojo visu tekstu tikėti stipriau, pajausti stipriau. Ir kaip pajausti šalį - Rumuniją, nuoširdžiau, jeigu ji, atrodo, juk tokia svetima? Bet ši istorija pasakoja apie tai - ką surastume ir bene kiekvieno lietuvio ar ukrainiečio šeimoje, šis skaitinys turi galios paliesti visus mus - tuos, kurie visgi po Antrojo pasaulinio karo iki pat amžiaus pabaigos gyveno toje pačioje baimėje ir kuriuos nuolat varžė tokia neteisinga, bauginanti, nakinanti sovietų jėga.
Politinė situacija šalyje buvo labai stiprus knygos kontekstas, tačiau viena svarbiausių siužeto linijų visgi lieka - meilė. Tik net ir meilės čia nenukeltume toliau už sovietinio bloko ribų, nes net tokį tyrą jausmą nuolatos stebėjo ne kas kitas - o valdžios akis. Šiurpu, artima, dar taip neseniai buvę. Ir taip panašu apie tai, ką rašė Orwell. Tik štai esminis skirtumas - "Traukinys į Triestą" nėra distopinis romanas.
Nors pagrindinė romano veikėja man pasirodė ne iki galo tikra, kažkaip gal perspausta, gal aš pati jos nesugebėjau iki galo suprasti, tačiau viena savo savybe tapo išties artima. Mona sugebėjo įsikūnyti į savo šeimos moteris, akimirkai tapti jomis, ši magiška galia - tarsi mistiška ir nenutrukstanti grandinė, perduodama su krauju, su gimimu. Turiu prisipažinti, kad ir pačiai šis kartais baugus, kartais raminantis jausmas - nesvetimas.
Perskaičius knygą jausmai jai tarsi bangavo, Iš pradžių, pirmą savaitę - simpatijos lyg ir ritosi žemyn, knyga vis mažiau patiko. Praėjus dar šiek tiek laiko - knygą ėmiau vertinti palankiau, prisiminimai kilo kaip apie ganėtinai stiprų ir paveikų kūrinį. Dar gi šis pasakojimas man priminė Goran Vojnović romaną "Jugoslavija, mano tėvynė". Pasakotojo perspektyva šiek tiek kitokia minėtoje knygoje, tačiau iš esmės abi istorijos kelia analogiškus klausimus ir atveria panašius skausmus. Vojnović knyga man pasirodė įtikinamesnė, aš ja patikėjau nuoširdžiau, įspūdis liko geresnis - tad jei patiko "Traukinys į Triestą", rekomenduoju neaplenkti ir minėtos slovėnų autoriaus knygos. Na o jei apskritai jus domina žmonių istorijos komunistinės ir postkomunistinės kasdienybės kontekste - skaitykite jas abi.
Politinė situacija šalyje buvo labai stiprus knygos kontekstas, tačiau viena svarbiausių siužeto linijų visgi lieka - meilė. Tik net ir meilės čia nenukeltume toliau už sovietinio bloko ribų, nes net tokį tyrą jausmą nuolatos stebėjo ne kas kitas - o valdžios akis. Šiurpu, artima, dar taip neseniai buvę. Ir taip panašu apie tai, ką rašė Orwell. Tik štai esminis skirtumas - "Traukinys į Triestą" nėra distopinis romanas.
Nors pagrindinė romano veikėja man pasirodė ne iki galo tikra, kažkaip gal perspausta, gal aš pati jos nesugebėjau iki galo suprasti, tačiau viena savo savybe tapo išties artima. Mona sugebėjo įsikūnyti į savo šeimos moteris, akimirkai tapti jomis, ši magiška galia - tarsi mistiška ir nenutrukstanti grandinė, perduodama su krauju, su gimimu. Turiu prisipažinti, kad ir pačiai šis kartais baugus, kartais raminantis jausmas - nesvetimas.
Perskaičius knygą jausmai jai tarsi bangavo, Iš pradžių, pirmą savaitę - simpatijos lyg ir ritosi žemyn, knyga vis mažiau patiko. Praėjus dar šiek tiek laiko - knygą ėmiau vertinti palankiau, prisiminimai kilo kaip apie ganėtinai stiprų ir paveikų kūrinį. Dar gi šis pasakojimas man priminė Goran Vojnović romaną "Jugoslavija, mano tėvynė". Pasakotojo perspektyva šiek tiek kitokia minėtoje knygoje, tačiau iš esmės abi istorijos kelia analogiškus klausimus ir atveria panašius skausmus. Vojnović knyga man pasirodė įtikinamesnė, aš ja patikėjau nuoširdžiau, įspūdis liko geresnis - tad jei patiko "Traukinys į Triestą", rekomenduoju neaplenkti ir minėtos slovėnų autoriaus knygos. Na o jei apskritai jus domina žmonių istorijos komunistinės ir postkomunistinės kasdienybės kontekste - skaitykite jas abi.
June 27, 2016
I am leaving behind everything except myself.
*
Then I am terrified that I will be overcome by memories…
*
In order not to lose myself in this city of strangers, I carry a country inside my head. My parents’ memories become my own, as if I had lived their childhoods, their adolescence and I have collected the memories of my aunts and uncles, too, and my cousins, and the memories of characters in books I’ve read.
*
I knew I was on my native soil. I felt it in the way dawn filtered through the tall, symmetrical fir trees. In the way sunflowers swayed in the warm-cool summer air that caressed my face through the open window. I knew it from the smell of wet tree bark, pine resin, and the and the unique scent of the flower called queen of the night that opened up at dusk and filled the air with its dizzying fragrance until dawn all summer long. I knew it because all my limbs felt the right size, and because I could hear the echoes of my name, my laughter and moans stuck for ever in the valleys. I came back avid for the smells and tastes of my childhood.
*
Then I am terrified that I will be overcome by memories…
*
In order not to lose myself in this city of strangers, I carry a country inside my head. My parents’ memories become my own, as if I had lived their childhoods, their adolescence and I have collected the memories of my aunts and uncles, too, and my cousins, and the memories of characters in books I’ve read.
*
I knew I was on my native soil. I felt it in the way dawn filtered through the tall, symmetrical fir trees. In the way sunflowers swayed in the warm-cool summer air that caressed my face through the open window. I knew it from the smell of wet tree bark, pine resin, and the and the unique scent of the flower called queen of the night that opened up at dusk and filled the air with its dizzying fragrance until dawn all summer long. I knew it because all my limbs felt the right size, and because I could hear the echoes of my name, my laughter and moans stuck for ever in the valleys. I came back avid for the smells and tastes of my childhood.
February 7, 2018
I am not at all a fan of romance novels, but Train to Trieste appealed to me for the Romania stop on my Around the World in 80 Books challenge, due to the political and social commentary which it promised. I find Romania fascinating, and cannot wait to visit in the next couple of years.
I found that the scene was set well here, with many small details about the world around protagonist Mona nestling into the narrative. As a character, however, she irritated me greatly. She has been crafted as a typical silly, giddy teenager, who has no cares apart from wanting her own way in life and love. She is selfish and self-centered, and her moods swing from one extreme to another in the space of just one or two paragraphs.
Train to Trieste feels rather overwritten in places, but still manages to feel too simplistic for an historical novel. It is therefore difficult to pinpoint the target audience which Radulescu was aiming this particular novel at; it is not on the same level as a lot of historical fiction, which made me think that maybe it was a young adult novel, but similarly it deals with some quite adult themes, and lots of jumping into bed. The prose is highly repetitive; Mona tells us, for instance, that her dress is 'blue' three times, and 'gauzy' twice, in the space of a page. Train to Trieste is far more involved with Mona's love life and obsessions than it is with the political climate of Romania in the 1970s, which I feel is a real shame. It reminded me largely of Pam Jenoff's novels, which I find rather fluffy, in that the love affairs of the protagonists always greatly overshadow the historical context.
I found that the scene was set well here, with many small details about the world around protagonist Mona nestling into the narrative. As a character, however, she irritated me greatly. She has been crafted as a typical silly, giddy teenager, who has no cares apart from wanting her own way in life and love. She is selfish and self-centered, and her moods swing from one extreme to another in the space of just one or two paragraphs.
Train to Trieste feels rather overwritten in places, but still manages to feel too simplistic for an historical novel. It is therefore difficult to pinpoint the target audience which Radulescu was aiming this particular novel at; it is not on the same level as a lot of historical fiction, which made me think that maybe it was a young adult novel, but similarly it deals with some quite adult themes, and lots of jumping into bed. The prose is highly repetitive; Mona tells us, for instance, that her dress is 'blue' three times, and 'gauzy' twice, in the space of a page. Train to Trieste is far more involved with Mona's love life and obsessions than it is with the political climate of Romania in the 1970s, which I feel is a real shame. It reminded me largely of Pam Jenoff's novels, which I find rather fluffy, in that the love affairs of the protagonists always greatly overshadow the historical context.
February 18, 2023
Pradesiut taip...na, nemegstu tokiu knygu, bet taip pat man jos patinka...jos tikros...
Romanas pilnas istoriniu faktu, tikrove kuria teko isgyventi didziajai dalei Europos.
Sistema/santvarka, kurios tikriausiai dalis nesuprato, dalis kovojo nes suprato, kad taip neturi buti, o dalis bande isgyventi priimant vienokiua ar kitokius sprendimus, gal teisingus jiems, bet nelabai aplinkiniams.
Vieno zmogaus istorija, isupta i tuo metine politika, kai neaisku, kas tavo draugas, o kas priesas, kas tikra, o kas ne...
Tiketi gali savimi ir savo seima. Savo seimos istorija, praeitimi.
Man si knyga ir apie save, saves saugojima, savo vertybes, saves mylejima, gerbima. Nora buti savimi, kovoti uz savo idejas, kovoti uz savo tikslus ir tiesiog neisduoti saves. Nepamirsti, kodel pasielgta buvo vienaip ar kitaip.
Tai knyga apie vienos salies istorija, kova del laisves, vienos seimos istorija, kuria gali papasakoti daugelis seimu.
Romanas pilnas istoriniu faktu, tikrove kuria teko isgyventi didziajai dalei Europos.
Sistema/santvarka, kurios tikriausiai dalis nesuprato, dalis kovojo nes suprato, kad taip neturi buti, o dalis bande isgyventi priimant vienokiua ar kitokius sprendimus, gal teisingus jiems, bet nelabai aplinkiniams.
Vieno zmogaus istorija, isupta i tuo metine politika, kai neaisku, kas tavo draugas, o kas priesas, kas tikra, o kas ne...
Tiketi gali savimi ir savo seima. Savo seimos istorija, praeitimi.
Man si knyga ir apie save, saves saugojima, savo vertybes, saves mylejima, gerbima. Nora buti savimi, kovoti uz savo idejas, kovoti uz savo tikslus ir tiesiog neisduoti saves. Nepamirsti, kodel pasielgta buvo vienaip ar kitaip.
Tai knyga apie vienos salies istorija, kova del laisves, vienos seimos istorija, kuria gali papasakoti daugelis seimu.
February 23, 2009
The protagonist discovers love as a teenager in the repressive Romania of Ceaucescu and then flees the demons (real and imagined) that haunt her to find a new life in America. Although she gains a mature sense of self, she remains nostalgic for the land she has left and the life and love she has lost by leaving. Her appreciation for the land and its people infuses her passion for her lover with a chthonic power which imprints itself on her soul as an innate releasing mechanism that abides until her return to the Carpathians, following the overthrow of the dictator. One senses that there is much of the author's own love for Romania in the work, and that gives rise to almost poetic caresses in her descriptions of the land and its natives. Although framed by hard political realities, this is a love story told with passion and without illusions.
August 8, 2008
Very disappointing book - as someone who lived through the period described in the book in Romania, I found the atmosphere very inaccurate - focused on the ultra-dramatic miseries of the privileged rather than the day to day numbing hell of 5 hour food lines for milk and bread, lack of water, electricity and so on that afflicted regular people.
Living under Ceausescu's regime was hell but not for the reasons of the book - unless of course you were part of the privileged who wanted more...
Also the style of the book is way overwrought like shouting.
Two stars for the try.
Living under Ceausescu's regime was hell but not for the reasons of the book - unless of course you were part of the privileged who wanted more...
Also the style of the book is way overwrought like shouting.
Two stars for the try.
April 27, 2020
Knygoje pasakojama apie rumunu komunistini rezima, ir vienos moters pabegima i JAV. Lengvai skaitomas kurinys, kiek supratau paremtas rasytojos gyvenimo faktais. Pradzioje i sia knyga ziurejau skeptiskai, bet pradejus skaityti nuomone pasikeite.
October 22, 2019
Mano įvertinimas 3.5 :)
Knygoje pagrindinį vaidmenį atlieka Mona, gyvenanti kartu su tėvais Rumunijos sostinėje Bukarešte. Visa istorija rutuliojasi pradedant Monos jausnystės dienų atostogomis Karpatų papėdėje ir keliauja per kelias šalis kol pasiekia galutinį kelionės tašką – emigracija Jungtinėse Valstijose.
Jauna mergina gyvenanti komunizmo nualintoje šalyje atranda savo gyvenimo meilę – paslaptingą vaikiną, kaltą dėl ankstesniosios merginos žūties. Tačiau ar ši dviejų jaunų žmonių meilė tokia stipri, jog įveiktų virš jos sklandantį priespaudos ir baimės šešėlį? Ar jos užteks tam, kad du žmonės galėtų gyventi kartu?
Deja, Mona neatlaikiusi įtampos ir nuolatinio nepritekliaus ryžtasi palikti savo gimtinę ir paslapčia bėgti į Ameriką – svajonių išsipildymo šalį, kuri toli gražu nelaukia išskėstomis rankomis.
Tai sunkaus gyvenimo paveikslas, kurį teko patirti ne vienam gyvenančiam tuometiniu laikotarpiu (apie 1980m) ir tuometinėmis sąlygomis. Autorė puikiai perteikia atmosferą, kuri kankino ir alino ne vieną tautą.
Tiesa apie šią istoriją kalbėti gan sunku, nes toks jausmas, kad knygoje be galo daug pačios autorės, jos išgyvenimų ir jos priimtų sprendimų. O tai, kaip ir kalbėti apie biografijas, man nesinori, nes niekas neturi teisės kritikuoti žmogaus gyvenimo istorijos (na nebent tai akivaizdus nusikalstamo gyvenimo vedimas 🙂 )
Kas be galo sužavėjo – tai pagrindinės herojės giminės moterų istorija (tetų, močiučių ir t.t.). Visos be galo tvirtos moterys – drąsios, ištikimos sau ir savo šeimai. Ir autorė perteikia tas istorijas su tokia meile ir tokia pagarba, jog skaitydama negalėjau nustoti žavėtis.
Kas nelipo prie širdies – tai pati pagrindinė veikėja ir jos “didelė” meilė. Neįtikino manęs ta meilė. Visą laik dvelkė kažkokiu netikrumu ir rodosi menkiausiam įtarimo šešėliui užklupus Mona buvo pasirengusi jos atsisakyti. Ką beje galiausiai ir padarė pabėgdama iš šalies ir net neužsiminusi apie tai savo ale “brangiausiam” žmogui (beje net būdama toli ir saugi, ji net nebandė su juo susisiekti ir sužinoti ar jis bent gyvas ar ne). Šioje vietoje ji iškilo kaip visiška savo giminės moterų priešingybė, kuriomis ji taip žavėjosi ir kuriomis žavėjausi ir aš. Mona pasirodė, kaip savanaudė, kuri buvo su vaikinu, tol kol jai buvo patogu.
O jei jums atrodo, kad aš klystu, tai labai laukiu komentarų.
Knygoje pagrindinį vaidmenį atlieka Mona, gyvenanti kartu su tėvais Rumunijos sostinėje Bukarešte. Visa istorija rutuliojasi pradedant Monos jausnystės dienų atostogomis Karpatų papėdėje ir keliauja per kelias šalis kol pasiekia galutinį kelionės tašką – emigracija Jungtinėse Valstijose.
Jauna mergina gyvenanti komunizmo nualintoje šalyje atranda savo gyvenimo meilę – paslaptingą vaikiną, kaltą dėl ankstesniosios merginos žūties. Tačiau ar ši dviejų jaunų žmonių meilė tokia stipri, jog įveiktų virš jos sklandantį priespaudos ir baimės šešėlį? Ar jos užteks tam, kad du žmonės galėtų gyventi kartu?
Deja, Mona neatlaikiusi įtampos ir nuolatinio nepritekliaus ryžtasi palikti savo gimtinę ir paslapčia bėgti į Ameriką – svajonių išsipildymo šalį, kuri toli gražu nelaukia išskėstomis rankomis.
Tai sunkaus gyvenimo paveikslas, kurį teko patirti ne vienam gyvenančiam tuometiniu laikotarpiu (apie 1980m) ir tuometinėmis sąlygomis. Autorė puikiai perteikia atmosferą, kuri kankino ir alino ne vieną tautą.
Tiesa apie šią istoriją kalbėti gan sunku, nes toks jausmas, kad knygoje be galo daug pačios autorės, jos išgyvenimų ir jos priimtų sprendimų. O tai, kaip ir kalbėti apie biografijas, man nesinori, nes niekas neturi teisės kritikuoti žmogaus gyvenimo istorijos (na nebent tai akivaizdus nusikalstamo gyvenimo vedimas 🙂 )
Kas be galo sužavėjo – tai pagrindinės herojės giminės moterų istorija (tetų, močiučių ir t.t.). Visos be galo tvirtos moterys – drąsios, ištikimos sau ir savo šeimai. Ir autorė perteikia tas istorijas su tokia meile ir tokia pagarba, jog skaitydama negalėjau nustoti žavėtis.
Kas nelipo prie širdies – tai pati pagrindinė veikėja ir jos “didelė” meilė. Neįtikino manęs ta meilė. Visą laik dvelkė kažkokiu netikrumu ir rodosi menkiausiam įtarimo šešėliui užklupus Mona buvo pasirengusi jos atsisakyti. Ką beje galiausiai ir padarė pabėgdama iš šalies ir net neužsiminusi apie tai savo ale “brangiausiam” žmogui (beje net būdama toli ir saugi, ji net nebandė su juo susisiekti ir sužinoti ar jis bent gyvas ar ne). Šioje vietoje ji iškilo kaip visiška savo giminės moterų priešingybė, kuriomis ji taip žavėjosi ir kuriomis žavėjausi ir aš. Mona pasirodė, kaip savanaudė, kuri buvo su vaikinu, tol kol jai buvo patogu.
O jei jums atrodo, kad aš klystu, tai labai laukiu komentarų.
October 21, 2017
I really enjoyed this story of a young girl, and the journey she takes to better her life. A page-turner, deeply moving, and suspenseful, during a time of war and politics in her country. A wonderful debut!
From Amazon:
In the summer of 1977, seventeen-year-old Mona Manoliu falls in love with Mihai, a green-eyed boy who lives in Brasov, the romantic mountain city where she spends her summers. But under the Ceausescu dictatorship, paranoia infects everyone; soon Mona begins to suspect that Mihai is part of the secret police. As food shortages worsen and her loved ones begin to disappear, Mona realizes that she too must leave. Over the next twenty years, she struggles to bury her longing for the past, yet she eventually finds herself compelled to return, determined to learn the truth about her one great love.
From Amazon:
In the summer of 1977, seventeen-year-old Mona Manoliu falls in love with Mihai, a green-eyed boy who lives in Brasov, the romantic mountain city where she spends her summers. But under the Ceausescu dictatorship, paranoia infects everyone; soon Mona begins to suspect that Mihai is part of the secret police. As food shortages worsen and her loved ones begin to disappear, Mona realizes that she too must leave. Over the next twenty years, she struggles to bury her longing for the past, yet she eventually finds herself compelled to return, determined to learn the truth about her one great love.
August 6, 2018
An excellent book to read as I’ve just returned from Romania and a tour of Caecescu’s palace, an 80 room mansion he hid from his own people while draining the national treasury and starving the citizens. This book clearly follows the author’s own life and portrays with telling details the drudgery and despair of living in a police state. I would have liked fewer dreams, but other than that I found it moving and compelling.
April 30, 2021
Tai antra perskaityta šios autorės knyga. Rašytoja aprašo tai, ką yra mačiusi ir išgyvenusi pati - gyvenimą Rytų Europos komunistiniame „rojuje“, kur sunku pasitikėti net mylimu žmogumi, kur viskas kontroliuojama saugumo tarnybų, kur kasdieninis skurdas neatitinka skambių šūkių. Tos kartos žmonės tarsi pažymėti kovos ženklu, todėl jiems sunku suvokti ir prisitaikyti prie patogaus ir tuštoko gyvenimo emigravus į gerovės šalis. Knyga gerai suprantama mano kartos skaitytojams.
June 10, 2025
Updated June 7, 2025:
I rarely read books twice, but this one felt important for me to read this year. I enjoyed this book even more than the first read. It is such a powerful story, and Radulescu has such a gift with words. The writing is rich and moving, making a story that already hits me in so many places, all that more gorgeous. This is truly one of my all-time favorite books, in part because of its beauty and in part because of personal thoughts and memories of my own all-consuming first love in that same beautiful city in the Carpathians that this book falls right into every time I pick it up.
Original Review:
Radulescu hits another emotional blow with this poignant, moving tale of lost love that haunts and the desperation of Romanian life in the 1980s. While there are a lot of similar features in this book as her later novel, Black Sea Twilight, the stories are different enough to not feel repetitive.
Radulescu expertly captures the trauma of defection and the loneliness of being a stranger in a strange land. Much of what Westerners know about defection in the Communist era was triumphant - brave souls that passed through nearly unimaginable danger to come to freedom. Far too little is discussed about the difficult transition after. Remarkably, though, Radulescu's stories are also relatable to anyone who felt out of place and far from home.
This book in particular strikes a melancholic chord in me, bringing back specific memories and emotions. I love books that trigger things inside me, even if I do find myself with a little bit of an emotional hangover after. Radulescu is one of the best writers I've encountered at capturing the haunting love that will always linger in the background. True talent.
Radulescu is an amazing writer who expertly captures the human experience, and I will happily read any of her fiction that I can find.
I rarely read books twice, but this one felt important for me to read this year. I enjoyed this book even more than the first read. It is such a powerful story, and Radulescu has such a gift with words. The writing is rich and moving, making a story that already hits me in so many places, all that more gorgeous. This is truly one of my all-time favorite books, in part because of its beauty and in part because of personal thoughts and memories of my own all-consuming first love in that same beautiful city in the Carpathians that this book falls right into every time I pick it up.
Original Review:
Radulescu hits another emotional blow with this poignant, moving tale of lost love that haunts and the desperation of Romanian life in the 1980s. While there are a lot of similar features in this book as her later novel, Black Sea Twilight, the stories are different enough to not feel repetitive.
Radulescu expertly captures the trauma of defection and the loneliness of being a stranger in a strange land. Much of what Westerners know about defection in the Communist era was triumphant - brave souls that passed through nearly unimaginable danger to come to freedom. Far too little is discussed about the difficult transition after. Remarkably, though, Radulescu's stories are also relatable to anyone who felt out of place and far from home.
This book in particular strikes a melancholic chord in me, bringing back specific memories and emotions. I love books that trigger things inside me, even if I do find myself with a little bit of an emotional hangover after. Radulescu is one of the best writers I've encountered at capturing the haunting love that will always linger in the background. True talent.
Radulescu is an amazing writer who expertly captures the human experience, and I will happily read any of her fiction that I can find.
January 3, 2013
I put of reading this book for a long time because its cover looked too 'mushy' and its title seemed appropriate to a romance. Still, the subject of life in Communist Romania in the 1970s was interesting and something i knew little more about than what i had read in newspapers and seen on the news at the time. and there was nothing else tempting to read near at hand.
This is an intelligent book with the ring of authenticity in terms of its historical detail but its also a romance - and while I think it has a lot to recommend it to the right reader, that reader is most definitely not me!
If you have a soul that hungers to slowly feed on passion and poetry, willing to linger in beautifully crafted descriptive passages that reach to the soul of a person, a people and a country and can wait for the plot to get around to Its point in its own sweet time, then you should enjoy this book. I can't be certain, but I think it may lay bare the soul of the Romanian people, There is something of a musical quality to the book - all gypsy violins and tragic dirges.
But if, like me, you are looking for some historical detail wrapped around a fast paced, twist filled plot, you will not be a big fan. I also felt the main character was too gloomy and brooding. i came to care about her, but i didn't like her one bit. The denouement was good, but I had to wait too long for it.
This is an intelligent book with the ring of authenticity in terms of its historical detail but its also a romance - and while I think it has a lot to recommend it to the right reader, that reader is most definitely not me!
If you have a soul that hungers to slowly feed on passion and poetry, willing to linger in beautifully crafted descriptive passages that reach to the soul of a person, a people and a country and can wait for the plot to get around to Its point in its own sweet time, then you should enjoy this book. I can't be certain, but I think it may lay bare the soul of the Romanian people, There is something of a musical quality to the book - all gypsy violins and tragic dirges.
But if, like me, you are looking for some historical detail wrapped around a fast paced, twist filled plot, you will not be a big fan. I also felt the main character was too gloomy and brooding. i came to care about her, but i didn't like her one bit. The denouement was good, but I had to wait too long for it.
March 12, 2011
Although I found the author's writing style a little hard to read, I still found myself being pulled into Mona's story. Probably like most of us out there, I've read very little fiction about Romania so I really have no baseline to compare it to. The author is very knowledgeable about Romania during the 1970s through 1980s and I found the story very informative. Although another reviewer has panned this book stating the story was more of a person's of priviledge (unlike most Romanians during that time) I don't think it should be panned because of this. It was the life the author knew, and if this life is one of priviledge,it certainly shows how bad things were in Romania.
The book was rating a strong 4 stars for me. Unfortunately there were so many dream sequences that by the time I was about 2/3 of the way through it became really irritating and I would say to myself, "Really? Again?." Also, I felt there was this big build up towards the ending which ended with a mild thud--sort of like a pebble hitting a dirt path.
The book was rating a strong 4 stars for me. Unfortunately there were so many dream sequences that by the time I was about 2/3 of the way through it became really irritating and I would say to myself, "Really? Again?." Also, I felt there was this big build up towards the ending which ended with a mild thud--sort of like a pebble hitting a dirt path.
February 27, 2017
Magnificent! A novel, but when one "knows" the story so intimately, the telling of it has a power magnified by experience...one feels this is a story author Radulescu has experienced.
17 year old Mona Manoliu lives in Romania under the crushing dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu. While living in Bucharest, her family summers in the Carpathian mountain town of Brasov, where young Mona falls in love with Mihai, a mysterious older boy. But events conspire to force Mona to flee the country; from Trieste, to Rome, to Chicago, she must become a refugee and forge a new life. This she does, but thoughts of Romania are never far away. The years go by, and after the fall of Ceaucescu, she returns to that land to seek her own past, and finally some closure.
So poetically told, it mesmerized me. In this time of xenophobia and hate politics, it is important to read about how it is to be on "the other side."
17 year old Mona Manoliu lives in Romania under the crushing dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu. While living in Bucharest, her family summers in the Carpathian mountain town of Brasov, where young Mona falls in love with Mihai, a mysterious older boy. But events conspire to force Mona to flee the country; from Trieste, to Rome, to Chicago, she must become a refugee and forge a new life. This she does, but thoughts of Romania are never far away. The years go by, and after the fall of Ceaucescu, she returns to that land to seek her own past, and finally some closure.
So poetically told, it mesmerized me. In this time of xenophobia and hate politics, it is important to read about how it is to be on "the other side."
February 8, 2009
A teenager named Mona & her parents are living in Romania during the communist regime.
Her father is secretly working against the regime and he is putting his family in a lot of danger. Therefore, they arrange to have Mona escape to the U.S.
Once she gets to the U.S. she lives with various people and has various jobs. However, she is always thinking of her long lost love, Mihai.
She gets married in the U.S. to a guy named Tom and they have 2 boys. Her parents also come to live in the U.S.
They tell her that Mihai died, and she falls apart. Her marriage to Tom has not been good and she starts regretting ever coming to the U.S.
She goes back to Romania and she receives the shock of her life!
This book was good, but it was slow moving.
Her father is secretly working against the regime and he is putting his family in a lot of danger. Therefore, they arrange to have Mona escape to the U.S.
Once she gets to the U.S. she lives with various people and has various jobs. However, she is always thinking of her long lost love, Mihai.
She gets married in the U.S. to a guy named Tom and they have 2 boys. Her parents also come to live in the U.S.
They tell her that Mihai died, and she falls apart. Her marriage to Tom has not been good and she starts regretting ever coming to the U.S.
She goes back to Romania and she receives the shock of her life!
This book was good, but it was slow moving.
August 9, 2009
"In the summer of 1977, seventeen-year-old Mona Manoliu falls in love with Mihai, a mysterious, green-eyed boy who lives in Brasov, the romantic mountain city where she spends her summers. She can think of nothing, and no one, else. But life under the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu is difficult. Hunger and paranoia infect everyone; fear, too. And one day, Mona sees Mihai wearing the black leather jacket favored by the secret police. Could he be one of them?"
The story takes Mona from Romania to Chicago and finally back again after the fall of Nicolae Ceauşescu. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I believe the book is written from personal experience and accurately depicts the life of Romanians and the Romanian refugee. I would give it 3+.
The story takes Mona from Romania to Chicago and finally back again after the fall of Nicolae Ceauşescu. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I believe the book is written from personal experience and accurately depicts the life of Romanians and the Romanian refugee. I would give it 3+.
May 16, 2016
Living in Ceausescu's Romania must have been like an endless bad dream. Only, it was not a dream; it was reality. The story in this novel follows its protagonist, a young lady, from Romania, where she is involved in a not so simple amorous relationship with a young man, who might or might not be working for the secret police, to Yugoslavia, then Italy, and finally to the USA.
Fleeing Romania and beginning a new life in the USA is not simple. Endless dream-like flashbacks to the life she has left behind add to the difficulties that the heroine has to surmount.
This superb, fast-moving novel successfully highlights the psychological traumas of both living in an insane dictatorship and also adapting to life as a refugee.
Fleeing Romania and beginning a new life in the USA is not simple. Endless dream-like flashbacks to the life she has left behind add to the difficulties that the heroine has to surmount.
This superb, fast-moving novel successfully highlights the psychological traumas of both living in an insane dictatorship and also adapting to life as a refugee.
April 25, 2011
Overall, I did not really enjoy this book. Upon picking it up, it sounded interesting, but when opening it, not so much. The story is written choppily, almost like a child writing in fragmented sentences. I am not sure if this was on purpose or if it was just written poorly, but it was what I found most distracting. As the story goes on, it gets easier to bear, though. I enjoyed the latter part of the book far more than the former, but I still felt kind of ripped off at the end, because the ending itself was very loose and leaves you hanging.
Overall, it was something I kind of wish I hadn't picked up, but it wasn't terrible.
Overall, it was something I kind of wish I hadn't picked up, but it wasn't terrible.
August 28, 2012
I was mainly interested in this book because it had a Romanian protagonist, living in Romania during the rule of Ceaușescu. And since I've never seen a fictional book about my father and mother's homeland (I've never searched before), I decided to read it. I liked it well enough, though the tense of writing really started to annoy me. It was written in a past tense, and, like people have said, the style was somewhat fragmented in sentence structure. And near the end it started to putter out, and I started to get bored.
I would recommended this book to some people, but, in this case, I'm biased. It had it's good moments, but it's not one of my new favorites.
I would recommended this book to some people, but, in this case, I'm biased. It had it's good moments, but it's not one of my new favorites.
August 8, 2025
A sensual, transportive read. In its strongest moments,
Train to Trieste
uses imagery from both dreams and wakefulness to evoke the fear of Ceaușescu's Securitate, the intensity of first love, and what it means to be Romanian. While the pacing flags at times and the character development could be stronger, I thoroughly enjoyed accompanying Mona through her life story, so much so that I picked up Radulescu's next novel when I returned this one to the library.
April 22, 2019
I cannot praise this novel enough. I was carried away in this journey from a country I have never been to another I only know from books and television. I am not a refugee but as an immigrant I find myself living and feeling the same way as the protagonist. My language also has a word that doesn’t have translation but describes the feeling of longing and desperate loneliness. Maybe I found a translation for the word “saudade” in Romanian. It is kind of haunting when you find yourself so enthralled with every single character, you feel you cannot let them go.
September 10, 2009
Honestly, In the beginning i skipped over some(somethings seemed to wordy&unnecessary) BUT! once o got passed the unneccessaries i was hooked! I really enjoyed it. Mona & Mihai's love was crazy i loved mihai's character =) In the end i begged for more i felt so cut off i was a bit dissapionted, i just wished there was abit more.However, i think how it ended was perfect b/c i guess that was all that was left ( her &mihai) hopefully i made sense XD
July 27, 2013
3.5 stars. A good novel about a woman growing up in Romania, having to leave the country, immigrating to the U.S., her life there and then her journey back to her home country to find the young soldier she was in love with when she had to flee.
Wonderfully descriptive and a glimpse into a world I knew nothing about. I am always fascinated by the journeys others have and their feelings and experiences. This did not disappoint.
Wonderfully descriptive and a glimpse into a world I knew nothing about. I am always fascinated by the journeys others have and their feelings and experiences. This did not disappoint.
August 15, 2009
Listened to this in my car and loved it because of the political history mixed in with life story of a Romanian female, beginning in 1940s. Not sure I'd have enjoyed it as much in print -- but the reader had a melodious Romanian accent that was simply delightful. Good story.
April 7, 2021
The first half of the book, which takes place in Romania, was interesting. Then the character defects to America, and the book loses steam and becomes very boring.
Romania in the '70s and '80s is an interesting topic, but this book didn't do it justice.
Romania in the '70s and '80s is an interesting topic, but this book didn't do it justice.
October 1, 2008
Based on the first chapter, I thought I was going to hate this book. The prose the author was using seemed way over the top for me, but she toned it done after that and I got sucked in. Great book!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 111 reviews