The Red Z

The story follows the journey of a young Eastern European family immigrating in the early 1900's from their native Poland to the United States. After an arduous journey and an unplanned year of separation, Jan and Emilia settle in central Wisconsin where they begin farming and raising their ten children. The oldest son, Ben, made a sign to identify their property. Carved on it was a big red "Z".
Each character has their own story to tell. The early Twentieth Century is fraught with enormous historical events such as The Great Depression, Spanish Flu, and two World Wars. In the novel, the life-experiences of Jan, Emilia and each of their ten surviving children are revealed to the reader, each with their own unique perspective. These stories begin in the early 1900's and continue to the present, with their descendants. Many readers will identify with these stories, perhaps reminiscent of those told to them by their own forefathers, or those passed down from previous generations. It reminds us of the sacrifices made by those gone before us, making their way toward a better life without benefit of those things we today take for granted, such as electricity, running water, mass communication and automobiles.