When Sorrows Come

When Sorrows Come is the first novel in Maria Dziedzan’s My Lost Country series.

It won The Big Bingham Book Read in 2015 and was one of four finalists for the Historical Novel Society Indie Award 2016.

First there were the Bolsheviks from Stalinist Russia and then a Nazi occupation. When Sorrows Come draws from this period in history starting in 1939 when Stalin took Western Ukraine from the Poles and began a reign of terror that saw many Ukranians deported to almost certain death in Siberia.

When teenager Anna’s family in Ukraine is torn apart by Stalin’s bullies, she and her mother must try to survive the Russian occupation of their village.

But the violence intensifies in the Second World War when the Nazis invade, and as the Fascists’ cruelty affects those close to her, Anna’s resilience grows. She has the will to survive the occupying force despite the dangers.

After her lover joins the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, she decides to help the partisans in their fight against powerful enemies. Her courage does not fail as she loses those she loves…but being brave doesn’t guarantee survival.

The second novel in the series will be published in early 2017.