“He will always be mine,” she whispers, as the tears in her eyes blur her vision. She holds her baby tightly, her breath coming out in ragged gasps, knowing that she will have to say goodbye…
Ukraine, 1941. War has ripped Katya’s country and heart in two. When her first love and the father of her child, a young Hungarian soldier, is killed in battle she thinks her heart couldn’t break any more. But when she discovers she is pregnant, she is forced to give their beautiful son away.
Then two soldiers knock down her door and force her into a truck. Katya is terrified, but as she is driven away to a labor camp her spirit remains strong. Because as she looks out the tiny window at the barren winter landscape she thinks only of her little Alexander…
She knows she must find a way to escape if she can ever see him again. But will she ever be reunited with her precious son? Or will they be torn apart forever by the war that has already taken so much?
Based on an incredible true story
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About the Author
Tetyana Denford grew up in a small town in New York, and is a Ukrainian-American author, translator, and freelance writer. She grew up with her Ukrainian heritage at the forefront of her childhood, and it led to her being fascinated with how storytellers in various cultures passed down their lives to future generations; life stories are where we learn about ourselves, each other, and are the things that matter most, in a world where things move so quickly.
Her debut novel, Motherland was self-published in March 2020 to critical success and longlisted for The Readers Digest Self Published Book Awards. It was based on an incredible family secret that was revealed by her maternal grandmother, Julia, only recently, and has been described by people as ‘haunting’, ‘powerful and devastating’, and ‘a fragile and hopeful story of an immigrant family’. In March 2022, Tetyana signed a 2-book deal with Bookcouture, an imprint of Hachette, and Motherland will be re-released in July 2022 with a new title and cover.
She also works with Frontline News as a translator, has been featured in The New York Times, The Telegraph, The Flock Magazine and Mother Tongue Magazine, and speaks several languages. She also hosts a YouTube show called ‘The Craft and Business of Books’ that helps writers understand both the creative side and the business side of the book world. Her series of ‘conversation books’, collections of poetry and prose about Grief, Motherhood, and Love, were published in 2021.
Tetyana currently lives in New York with her husband and three children.
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Author Links
http://www.instagram.com/tetyanawrites
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Book Link
Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C37H35WN/
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