Picture of author.

Shelly Sanders

Teoksen Daughters of the Occupation: A Novel of WWII tekijä

4 teosta 148 jäsentä 18 arvostelua

Tietoja tekijästä

Sarjat

Tekijän teokset

Rachel's Secret (2012) 56 kappaletta
Rachel's Hope (2014) 12 kappaletta
Rachel's Promise (2013) 10 kappaletta

Merkitty avainsanalla

Yleistieto

Sukupuoli
female
Kansalaisuus
Canada
Maa (karttaa varten)
Canada
Syntymäpaikka
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Asuinpaikat
Rolling Meadows, Illinois, USA
Koulutus
University of Waterloo (HD|English)
Ryerson University (Journalism)
University of Toronto
Ammatit
journalist
novelist
Parent
Organisaatiot
Maclean’s
Reader’s Digest
Toronto Star
Canadian Living
Second Story Press
Lyhyt elämäkerta
Shelly Sanders was born in Toronto, Ontario and moved to Rolling Meadows, Illinois when she was eight. From this point on, she never attended a school for more than two years, and turned to books to combat loneliness. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird was a seminal book for Sanders, instilling within her a lifelong interest in human rights.

A move back to Canada led Sanders to an Honours Degree in English from the University of Waterloo, followed by a degree in journalism from Ryerson University. Broke from six years of university, Sanders was lured by the big salaries in public relations, and began her career writing promotional materials and planning media events. With the birth of her first child, she began working as a freelance journalist which allowed her to make money and write from home.

Writing for newspapers and magazines refined Sanders’ ability to meet tight deadlines and helped her develop a thick skin for editorial criticism, qualities, she says, that are “necessary if you want to be published.”

After fourteen years of writing for national publications in Canada, including Maclean’s, Reader’s Digest, the Toronto Star, and Canadian Living, Sanders decided to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a novelist. Inspired by her grandmother’s experiences as a Russian Jew who escaped a pogrom and fled to Shanghai, she began work on Rachel’s Secret. Three years, four creative writing courses at the University of Toronto, and thirty drafts later, it was accepted by Second Story Press.

“I received the news from the publisher on my Blackberry while I was grocery shopping,” she explains. “I had to hold onto the cart for support because my legs started to wobble, and I was dizzy and faint. The moment was especially significant for me because I wrote Rachel’s Secret to honour my grandmother who died when I was twelve.”

Now, with Rachel’s Secret scheduled for release in the spring, 2012, a second novel, The Third Twin, being reviewed by publishers, and another in the works, Sanders continues to write every day, gratefully losing herself in the words and characters.

“Writing is a solitary occupation, with lots of time spent living in your head,” she says. “I’ve probably become more reclusive in the past couple of years, but nothing else I’ve ever done has felt so right.”

Sanders has been married for twenty years, has three busy children, two naughty dogs, and two vegetarian lizards. Her oldest child headed off to university this fall, an event dreaded by Sanders, who managed to let go without breaking down (in front of her daughter).

Jäseniä

Kirja-arvosteluja

Inspired by true events in World War II Latvia, an emotionally charged novel of sacrifice, trauma, resilience, and survival, as witnessed by three generations of women.
 
Merkitty asiattomaksi
HandelmanLibraryTINR | 4 muuta kirja-arvostelua | Nov 26, 2022 |
Rachel, a Jew, is forced to keep a murderer’s identity secret in 1903 Russia. After a loved one dies and her home is destroyed, she finds friendship from the least expected place.
 
Merkitty asiattomaksi
mcmlsbookbutler | 12 muuta kirja-arvostelua | Jul 28, 2022 |
Sarah's estranged grandmother, Miriam, appears at her mother's funeral and speaks in Hebrew over the casket. Her grandmother was Jewish? Why had her mother and grandmother fallen out? What other secrets did her family hold? Sarah decides to overcome her grandmother's reluctance and learn her family's history. Her investigation leads her to Riga, Latvia in search of a relative who had been left behind when her mother and grandmother fled to America after the war.

Miriam's and Sarah's stories are told in alternating chapters, the former starting in Riga in 1940 and the latter in Chicago in 1975. Loosely based on experiences that members of the author's family had during the war, the novel includes the infamous Rumbula Forest massacre, the successive occupations by the Soviets and Nazis, and life during the 1970s in communist Riga. Fast-paced, it's a quick read, and I enjoyed the afterward by the author which includes a few photos.

To simplify the narrative, the main character experiences almost every aspect of the Latvian Holocaust personally. At times this felt a bit contrived, although taken individually the events are accurate. Overall it was an interesting introduction to the Latvian Holocaust, and the bibliography provides readers an opportunity to learn more.
… (lisätietoja)
 
Merkitty asiattomaksi
labfs39 | 4 muuta kirja-arvostelua | Jul 15, 2022 |
For more reviews and bookish posts please visit: https://www.ManOfLaBook.com

Daughters of the Occupation by Shelly Sanders is a historical fiction story, set during World War II in Latvia. Ms. Sanders is a published author and journalist, who writes books inspired by her family’s history.

Miriam Talan has lived through Soviet and Nazi occupations. She has somehow survived her life in Riga, Latvia despite being on death marches, as well as a massacre. Miriam, however, paid a heavy price losing all her family, except her daughter but never knowing what happened to her young son.

Decades later, Sarah Byrne, Miriam’s granddaughter, accidentally discovers she might have an uncle. After the funeral for her mother, Sarah sets out on a journey to find him.

One of the reasons this book spoke to me, is because my grandmother managed to escape from Latvia during World War II. Her mother, however, was not as lucky and was murdered by the Nazis as they were retreating.

Daughters of the Occupation by Shelly Sanders is an engaging, well-researched book. Much of the book is very descriptive and haunting, however, the author tried to stay away from it being a tear-jerker.
Good choice.

The story, set in two timelines is not difficult to follow, and the author does a good job flipping back and forth between them. The courage, survival instinct, and chutzpah seem to have been passed on from grandmother to granddaughter.

I did, however, found the dual timeline a bit strange. The author spent a lot of time with Sarah, writing chapters on events that could have been a few paragraphs since they really had very little to do with the quest of either woman. There was also very little correlation between the two, from a narrative perspective. For example, Sarah learns something about her grandmother, and when we switch viewpoints, we don’t read about that event, but something totally different. In books I’ve read with a similar concept, that was usually the way it was done.

My other observation, not a complaint by any means, is the names. Names are important in the Jewish religion, and while the protagonist’s names are appropriately enough from the book of Exodus (Sarah and Miriam), the other family members are from the book of Esther.
I just found it interesting and am still trying to figure out the significance, if it even exists. Or, most likely, I’m overthinking it.

While it took me a while to get into Sarah’s story, I did find the book both interesting and informative. The research the author did shines, and I’ve learned several things about Latvia, the region, the way Latvian Jews viewed the Soviets, and a bit of history as well.
… (lisätietoja)
 
Merkitty asiattomaksi
ZoharLaor | 4 muuta kirja-arvostelua | May 25, 2022 |

Listat

Palkinnot

Tilastot

Teokset
4
Jäseniä
148
Suosituimmuussija
#140,180
Arvio (tähdet)
4.2
Kirja-arvosteluja
18
ISBN:t
20
Kielet
1

Taulukot ja kaaviot