It's not 'just' Fiction

Super excited that my research and writing has led to a connection with the real person who inspired a fictional character in my 2022 novel, Crow Stone. My aunt, my mom’s youngest sister, had cared for a little girl during the life-changing 1945 winter trek in former East Prussia as they tried to escape the Soviet army to reach the rescue ships at the Pillau harbour. My aunt was still a teenager and this child she protected was a toddler between two and three years of age. What happened to my aunt and the child after 1945? While my mother spent the next 2 ½ years in the Urals as a Soviet p.o.w., (fictionalized in Crow Stone) her two sisters and this child stayed behind as East Prussia transitioned into the Kaliningrad enclave belonging to Russia that we know today. 

Crow Stone characters inspired by people still living

In 1953, after finding each other again, my mom and her sisters—once again homeless— immigrated to Canada. But the little girl, E.., by then about 10 years old, was left behind in Germany. I don’t know the details, but I think she was reunited with some family member in Schleswig Holstein, a province in northern Germany. This little girl, E. is coming to Canada next year and we’re going to meet up. She’ll be able to share with me some of the details of her tragic childhood that have been buried over the decades.  I’m just tingling with excitement. She’s read Crow Stone and I was quite nervous about how she’d react to this fictionalized account of those horrible times … but the fact that she’s eager to meet me and share more is a positive sign, right? I’m just thrilled!

My mom (right) and her youngest sister, 40 years after the war,
safely growing old in Canada

As we age, it’s childhood memories that creep back into the centre stage our consciousness. I may have been born and raised in Canada, but the leftovers of my family’s trauma have haunted my own life. Writing these trauma-focused novels has helped me process the dynamics of my family. Every family has stories worth exploring. We just need to ask the questions and remember to be kind, curious and brave.