LANA KORTCHIK grew up in two opposite corners of the Soviet Union – a snow-white Siberian town and the golden-domed Ukrainian capital. At the age of sixteen, she moved to Australia with her mother. Lana and her family live on the Central Coast of New South Wales, where it never snows and is always summer-warm, even in winter. She loves books, martial arts, the ocean and Napoleonic history. Her short stories have appeared in many magazines and anthologies. She was the winner of the Historical Novel Society Autumn 2012 Short Fiction competition and the runner-up of the 2013 Defenestrationism Short Story Contest. This is her first novel.
‘A powerful and hard-hitting novel, it tackles the themes of loyalty and compassion, and emphasizes the hard choices that need to be made in wartime.’
Deborah Swift, author of The Lady’s Slipper
‘Its powerfully descriptive language pulls you into the bleakness of war, the longing for peace, and the exhilaration of profound, unconditional love.’
Marie Silk, author of Davenport House
‘I didn’t want this story to end. It’s one of those books you hold close to your heart and don’t want to let go … left me speechless and wanting more.’
Sharon Laker, author of The Railway Mice of Countesthorpe
‘I cried, smiled, gasped and laughed while reading this book. It will stay with me long after I’ve finished it.’
J.L. Leslie, author of Tame Me
The Story of Us
LANA KORTCHIK
HQ
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1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2018
Copyright © Lana Kortchik 2018
Lana Kortchik asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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E-book Edition © December 2018 ISBN: 9780008314835
Version: 2018-11-16
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 – Black Cloud Descending
Chapter 2 – The Barbaric Hordes
Chapter 6 – The River of Death
Chapter 7 – The New Beginnings
Chapter 8 – The Snow and the Illusions
Chapter 10 – At the Crossroads
Chapter 11 – The Impossible Choices
Chapter 12 – A Beacon of Happiness
Chapter 13 – Freedom’s Elusive Glare
Part II - The Everlasting Hope