- Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: Ebury Press; First Thus edition (4 Jan 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0091912237
- ISBN-13: 978-0091912239
- Product Dimensions: 12.7 x 1.9 x 19.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 558,405 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Book Description
The extraordinary true story of how one British woman was trapped in Eastern Europe for fifty years, first by the Nazis and then by Communism, but never stopped trying to get back home...
Product Description
Helen-Alice Dear was only fifteen when she left London to visit Bulgaria on a family holiday in 1937. Just weeks after her arrival, she found herself unable to leave and struggling to survive in an increasingly hostile and terrifying environment. Her marriage to a Bulgarian man bore her four children but they were often homeless, cold and hungry. Despite these hardships, Helen refused to give up hope and bravely managed to protect and raise her family.
When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, Helen was finally able to fulfil her dream of returning to her homeland. Her beautifully written memoir is a heart-wrenching tale of courage and resilience, proving just how indomitable the human spirit can be.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is the story of how Alice and her family coped with poverty, hardship and persecution under the Nazis and Communists. It is a story of courage and spirit. The love, kindness and generosity of Alice's young family is both moving and inspirational. A rewarding page turner.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
An overwhelming story of hardship, grinding poverty and rare moments of human generosity. This woman's life story is very disturbing to read, yet her unflinching love and devotion for her family maintains a sense of optimism throughout. This book will stay with me for a very long time.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
First of all, let me declare an interest as I live in Bulgaria and, like Helen, am married to a Bulgarian.
I was in something of a quandary with this book, as I know many older Bulgarians who lived through the same times in Bulgaria, as indeed did my own mother in another Balkan country. The author was indeed unfortunate to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, but also married to the wrong man from the wrong class of Bulgarian society. The hardships she went through were due not only to her husband, who was apparently a person of low intellect and social standing, but also intellectual deprivation. I could write more on these topics but this would become a book rather than a review!
The reason for the 3 stars? The material is fascinating and the story itself is worthy of five stars, but ghost-writer Andrew Croft's telling of it is pedestrian and, in my view, slap-dash. A bit more research would have made this a book to treasure but this is a wonderful opportunity sadly missed; nonetheless, it is worth reading for the historical and social content.
I was in something of a quandary with this book, as I know many older Bulgarians who lived through the same times in Bulgaria, as indeed did my own mother in another Balkan country. The author was indeed unfortunate to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, but also married to the wrong man from the wrong class of Bulgarian society. The hardships she went through were due not only to her husband, who was apparently a person of low intellect and social standing, but also intellectual deprivation. I could write more on these topics but this would become a book rather than a review!
The reason for the 3 stars? The material is fascinating and the story itself is worthy of five stars, but ghost-writer Andrew Croft's telling of it is pedestrian and, in my view, slap-dash. A bit more research would have made this a book to treasure but this is a wonderful opportunity sadly missed; nonetheless, it is worth reading for the historical and social content.
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