Hey everyone! Come join the fun on Monday, September 6th, as Chrystyna, one of the HFC Administrators for our Facebook group at The Historical Fiction Club, takes over for the day to celebrate the release of her new book - The Woman at the Gates!!
JOIN THE TAKEOVER: https://www.facebook.com/groups/historicalfictionbookclub (please answer all questions to be accepted)
Book Blurb:
Germany, 1944: Gazing through the barbed wire fence, up to the pale blue sky, Antonia dreams of home: cherry orchards, golden fields, and the man she loves, who she may never see again....
Resistance fighter Antonia is out in the forest behind her family’s beloved farm when the Nazi soldiers arrive. As she sees her sister Lena and her young nephews herded toward the trucks, guns pointed at their heads, she faces a split-second, heart-wrenching decision: to stay hidden, stay free, and continue the fight. Or to give herself up and go with her family to protect them - no matter what lies ahead.
As she clutches her nephew’s little hand in hers, her other arm tight around Lena, she knows she has made the right choice. And as the truck rattles toward a brutal labor camp, and they start to wonder what fate has in store for them, Antonia’s only thought is of how to escape.
Because before they were captured, Antonia worked tirelessly to free her country from those who had turned her homeland into a bloody battleground. By her side had been clever, handsome Viktor. The man she was to marry, whose love shone like a light in the darkness of war surrounding them.
Antonia does not know if Viktor has been caught or executed. But she knows she must try to find a way back to him, and she cannot wait any longer to be saved. Her precious nephews will die without proper food, and they could all be killed at any moment.
The world outside the camp gates is full of danger, but they have to find a way through them first. And that is their only hope, even if it costs Antonia her life. The Nazis have taken everything from her, but they can never take away her courage....
A heartbreaking, inspiring, and totally unforgettable story of the unbelievable courage and determination of extraordinary people in the darkest days of war. Fans of Kristin Hannah, Fiona Valpy, and The Tattooist of Auschwitz will be gripped until the final, heart-stopping conclusion.
Buy the Book:
International Short Link: https://amzn.to/3zNtIhB
Author Bio:
IPPY Book Award 2020 silver medal winner for SOUVENIRS FROM KIEV: Ukraine and Ukrainians in WWII.
Long-listed in the Flash500 Novel Competition 2017 for No Man's Land/The Breach
Winner of the Flash500 Short Story Competition with an extract from Bolzano.
Winner of the Coffee Pot Book Club Book Award Box and Box Set of the Year 2019 for the Reschen Valley Box Set.
A Discovered Diamond, shortlisted for Book of the Month July 2019, Reschen Valley Box Set
Reader's Favorite 5-star reviews for Bolzano, The Smuggler of Reschen Pass, and Magda's Mark (featured in The Road to Liberation Collection).
HNS International Short Story 2nd Place Winner 2014 for Souvenirs from Kiev (short story in the Souvenirs from Kiev collection)
Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger was born in Minnesota in 1969 and grew up in the culture-rich neighborhood of "Nordeast" Minneapolis. She started her writing career with short stories, travel narratives, worked as a journalist and then as a managing editor for a magazine publisher before jumping the editor's desk and pursuing her dreams of writing and traveling. In 2000, she moved to western Austria and established her own communications training company. She has won several awards for her short stories and novels and now primarily writes historical fiction. During a trip into northern Italy over the Reschen Pass, she stood on the edge of Reschen Lake and desperately wanted to understand how a 15th-century church tower ended up sticking out of the water. What stories were lying beneath? Some eight years later, she launched the "Reschen Valley" series with five books and a novella releasing between 2018 and 2021, in parallel to her WW2 novels and short story collections.
For more on Chrystyna, dive in at https://www.inktreks.com