It’s my great pleasure to welcome to CentreStage today the lovely Anneli Purchase all the way from Vancouver. Anneli is introducing her novel, Julia’s Violinist. And between you and me, I can thoroughly recommend it! So give it up for Annli and Julia…

Introducing: Anneli Purchase

The losers in a war are always deemed to have been wrong, evil aggressors, not worthy of a sympathetic ear. My mother was on the losing side during WWII. She told me many stories of her life in Saaz, now a part of the Czech Republic. She lost her home, her husband, and her way of life in the aftermath of war. Hearing the stories as a child, I didn’t realize the enormity of the losses she suffered nor how widespread the atrocities were. Much later it became clear to me that these injustices were experienced by thousands of others like her, many of whom were not so fortunate, losing not only their homes, but also their families and their own lives. I wanted to tell a story that could easily have happened to any of my mother’s fellow Sudetenlanders, a story of love, courage, and survival under the direst of circumstances.

When people of differing cultures are at war, they are capable of committing the most inhumane atrocities. This story does not attempt to take sides, to say that one was more vicious than the other. While there are many stories telling of the misdeeds of the German government and of Germans in general, this tells the story from the other side. I have tried to write it without prejudice.

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When the war ended, I thought things would get better I was wrong. The worst was yet to come. The Czechs took our homes away and expelled us from our homeland. We survived those terrible years after the war, one day at a time.

Now, twenty years later—a letter from Michael. He wants me to come to Canada. Ah, Michael, my love. It’s too late. I’m married again. Too late… isn’t it?

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Find, Follow and Love Anneli

Anneli Purchase lives on Vancouver Island on the west coast of Canada, where she writes novels and articles, and works as a freelance copy-editor. Anneli writes about people and their relationships and dilemmas. Often the settings are in unusual locations. Julia’s Violinist is her third novel. You can find out more about Anneli Purchase by following these links:

http://www.anneli.purchase.com

http://ow.ly/EXRVh (amazon.com)

http://ow.ly/EXS9Y(amazon.uk.com)

Blogs: http://wordsfromanneli.wordpress.com

http://annelisplace.wordpress.com