The Silence of Trees
Too often the women of history have been silenced, but their stories have power- to reveal, to teach, and to transform. This is one such story. In Chicago's Ukrainian Village, Nadya Lysenko has built her life on a foundation of secrets. When Nadya was sixteen, she snuck out of her house in...
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Too often the women of history have been silenced, but their stories have power- to reveal, to teach, and to transform. This is one such story. In Chicago's Ukrainian Village, Nadya Lysenko has built her life on a foundation of secrets. When Nadya was sixteen, she snuck out of her house in Western Ukraine to meet a fortuneteller in the woods. Ignoring the threat of Nazis and Russians, Nadya was driven by love and a desire to learn the unknown. She never expected it to be the last time she would see her family. Years later, Nadya continues to be haunted by the death of her parents and sisters. She clings to her traditions and stories from Ukraine, the only parts of her past that she can share with her family. The myths and magic of Nadya's childhood are still a part of her reality: house spirits misplace keys and glasses, dreams unite friends across time and space, and a fortuneteller's cards predict the future. Her beloved dead also insist on being heard, through dreams and whispers in the night. They want the truth to come out. Nadya needs to face her past and confront the secrets she buried within-THE SILENCE OF TREES.
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Format: hardcover
ISBN:
9780982126127 (0982126123)
Publish date: October 1st 2010
Publisher: Wolfsword Press
Pages no: 314
Edition language: English
Category:
Novels,
History,
Cultural,
Book Club,
Adult Fiction,
Historical Fiction,
Literary Fiction,
War,
Contemporary,
World War II,
Magical Realism,
Ukraine
Why did I read it? It was offered at a reduced price on the Goodreads Audiobook group, and it sounded interesting. What's it about? The book centres around the stories of Nadya, a Ukrainian mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, living in Chicago, who while observing the daily, religious and s...
This book is filled with a wonderful female presence. There are intricately woven folk tales, mythologies, and stories from the Ukraine. That said, I wish that the overall narrative had been more complete. I wanted to know the characters better. I wanted them to have the life that the old tales ...