Julia George
We (Julia and George) are currently working on a series of novels that are based on the true stories from George's (my husband) family. We are calling it the Broken Lives Trilogy.
The first book (and it's in edits right now) is about George's stepmother and his father. His stepmother was sent to Auschwitz when she was sixteen. After Auschwitz she returned home to Slovakia, was arrested by the Soviets as a German spy and sent to the Gulag (Vorkuta) for ten years.
Yes, this is just like Cilka's Journey. The difference is that our book is written by the real relatives of "Cilka" - her stepson (George) and her stepdaughter-in-law (Julia). It makes extensive use of the memoirs of Ivan Kovach (George's father) and the personal discussions George had with his father and Celia over the years. It is written in novel form, first person Celia. It is the true love story that was missing from Cilka's Journey. We hope to publish it this year. The working title is One Redeeming Love.
Julia George (Julia and George) have started on the second book in the trilogy. Islands of Memory. This is the story of George's grandmother who was born and raised in Imperial Russia, went to university to study to become a doctor, and before that could happen was driven out of Russia by the Bolsheviks in 1919. She barely made it out and many of her close relatives were murdered by the Bolsheviks. It is a story of love and hope, courage and fear. This book too is based on the memoirs of George's grandmother, Julia Gudim Levkovich/Gersdorff.
The third book in the Broken Lives Trilogy will be about George's mother (Julia's mother-in-law) Galya Kovach/Tarakanov - wife of Ivan Kovach. She escaped the Bolsheviks in 1919 as a one-year-old, grew up in exile in Yugoslavia, married Ivan in graduate school where she was studying to become a lawyer. When Ivan was arrested by the Soviets when they took over Czechoslovakia, she escaped with her three-year-old son (George) across the border into Germany. A near thing as there were Soviet guards shooting at them. She made her way to Canada where she - a woman with a degree in law - scrubbed floors in a bank to support herself and her son. Through courage and hard work, she mastered English, waited for and gained US citizenship, and became a professor of Russian language and literature at Oakland University in Michigan. She was an amazing woman, full of energy, who loved to laugh.
The writing of these books is an act of honoring the memory of George's father, mother, grandmother and stepmother. Eternal memory.
We hope readers enjoy these journeys into a world almost forgotten.
Now, all we have to do is get one published and the other two written.
Wish us luck.
The first book (and it's in edits right now) is about George's stepmother and his father. His stepmother was sent to Auschwitz when she was sixteen. After Auschwitz she returned home to Slovakia, was arrested by the Soviets as a German spy and sent to the Gulag (Vorkuta) for ten years.
Yes, this is just like Cilka's Journey. The difference is that our book is written by the real relatives of "Cilka" - her stepson (George) and her stepdaughter-in-law (Julia). It makes extensive use of the memoirs of Ivan Kovach (George's father) and the personal discussions George had with his father and Celia over the years. It is written in novel form, first person Celia. It is the true love story that was missing from Cilka's Journey. We hope to publish it this year. The working title is One Redeeming Love.
Julia George (Julia and George) have started on the second book in the trilogy. Islands of Memory. This is the story of George's grandmother who was born and raised in Imperial Russia, went to university to study to become a doctor, and before that could happen was driven out of Russia by the Bolsheviks in 1919. She barely made it out and many of her close relatives were murdered by the Bolsheviks. It is a story of love and hope, courage and fear. This book too is based on the memoirs of George's grandmother, Julia Gudim Levkovich/Gersdorff.
The third book in the Broken Lives Trilogy will be about George's mother (Julia's mother-in-law) Galya Kovach/Tarakanov - wife of Ivan Kovach. She escaped the Bolsheviks in 1919 as a one-year-old, grew up in exile in Yugoslavia, married Ivan in graduate school where she was studying to become a lawyer. When Ivan was arrested by the Soviets when they took over Czechoslovakia, she escaped with her three-year-old son (George) across the border into Germany. A near thing as there were Soviet guards shooting at them. She made her way to Canada where she - a woman with a degree in law - scrubbed floors in a bank to support herself and her son. Through courage and hard work, she mastered English, waited for and gained US citizenship, and became a professor of Russian language and literature at Oakland University in Michigan. She was an amazing woman, full of energy, who loved to laugh.
The writing of these books is an act of honoring the memory of George's father, mother, grandmother and stepmother. Eternal memory.
We hope readers enjoy these journeys into a world almost forgotten.
Now, all we have to do is get one published and the other two written.
Wish us luck.
More Answered Questions
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more