Destiny Denied

It is the early years of the last century and Stefan Vladeslav leaves his family's Croatian home, running away from constant family problems. Stefan's father announces his illegitimate son Ivan as an heir and Stefan's mother is obsessed with the family's monetary inheritance.


Stefan returns home hoping for forgiveness but he finds that his father is not speaking to him. Stefan's aunt Sophie, his father's sister, has an adopted daughter, Katya, who once loved Ivan, Stefan's step-brother, but Ivan's mother calls red-haired Katya a witch. The local Gypsies attack her and follow her & Ivan to Trieste.


Destiny Denied is an intriguing story of a family's deep secrets coming to light and leaving them with choices that they'd rather not make. That the late local parish priest Father Lahdra kept a journal telling of those secrets is a good writing ploy and makes "Destiny Denied" above-average as an exciting read. The characters of Stefan, Katya, Ivan, Magda, Anton who is Stefan's father, Valina the Gypsy, Sophie and Alexie are totally believable. The plot line runs smoothly to the last pages as Stefan leaves home once again and Katya and Ivan are faced with an unexpected destiny. Destiny Denied is good historic fiction and should appeal to many readers