A poignant, arresting debut…
Harms makes her dazzling foray into the world of fiction with this remarkable story about hunger, desperation, cruelty, and resilience set against the backdrop of WW II. Growing up in an isolated village in eastern Hungary between the great wars, Adam yearns to spread his wings wider. From a 12-year-old runaway searching for food, to a 15-year-old shivering in the mud of a frozen foxhole on the Eastern Front, Adam’s resilience is boundless. Struggling through a war-torn landscape, Adam builds his life from the ashes, but unforeseen circumstances will change his destiny forever. The story follows the trajectory of Adam and his family’s lives from pre-war years through WWII and then the displacement of German families from Hungry and other countries to Germany and its aftermath. Interweaving various story lines and set against the background of well-trodden period of history: as Hitler plunged Europe into war, and afterwards Europe reeled from the final destruction and horror of WW2, Harms stays focused on the tests and triumphs ordinary German faced during the war. The vivid descriptions of German-Hungarian culture and people’s ways of living add to the intrigue of the story. Moving, assured prose, swift narrative, and memorable characters make this poignant story all the more remarkable. Harms skillfully portrays one man’s journey who triumphed over hardships and successfully brings a complex and turbulent time in history to life. A riveting, poignant, coming-of-age story that will delight both lovers of historical fiction and literary fiction.
The Upside of Hunger: A True Tale
by Roxi Harms
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Bluebullseye LLC
Pub date July 7, 2018
ISBN 9780997567083
Price $17.09 (USD) Paperback, $7.66 Kindle edition
Categories: Historical fiction
