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The Purpose
Forbidden loves destined to collide, drawn together by fate, torn apart by war, forced to confront their darkest fears. Only the secrets of a sage can unite them and reveal the truth. Inspired by true events and a postcard found in a museum, The Purpose, is the first novel set in the wake of Lithuanian complicity in the Holocaust, a journey awash in mystical love.
It is 1941. Davie, is a downed American pilot with a secret mission and Leah, the leader of a band of partisans who save him in the Panerai forest on the outskirts of Vilnius. Hunting them is the ruthless Algimantas Lutikis, leader of the SS sanctioned Lithuanian Ypatingas Burys death-squad.
Worlds apart, evading capture in the brutal conflict, there is only one thing the wild American and the beautiful leader cannot escape ... each other. Their only hope are the lost secrets of the great sage and his words that could save them. But first, they must decipher their meaning, as the the hidden providence of the world rests unknowingly on their shoulders. With the Ypatingas Burys on their heals, only the secrets of the Gra can help them survive.
The Purpose is an adventure for those souls who know that darkness is the absence of light. It is a mystical exploration into the depths of human nature in a story that will touch the hearts of those who are interested in the mysteries of love and war ...
Praise for The
The poetic narrative is written in a style remnant of some of the best authors of the last century, namely Michael Ondaatje; additionally, a feminine quality to Abraham’s diction and syntax, similar to Barbara Kingsolver’s writing, only adds to the beauty of the narrative and the love story at the core of the novel. This is a love story that should not be over-sentimentalised, nor should its sentiment be trivialised. I feel that Abraham handles this balance adeptly, and this is one of the major strengths of the narrative. Finally, there are a few action scenes and moments of conspiracy and mystery that create heightened tension within both narrative and reader, and the ability of Abraham to weave a story of both fact and fiction into a highly plausible plot can be compared to the similar ability of the late Stieg Larsson.
- Claire Strombeck
It is 1941. Davie, is a downed American pilot with a secret mission and Leah, the leader of a band of partisans who save him in the Panerai forest on the outskirts of Vilnius. Hunting them is the ruthless Algimantas Lutikis, leader of the SS sanctioned Lithuanian Ypatingas Burys death-squad.
Worlds apart, evading capture in the brutal conflict, there is only one thing the wild American and the beautiful leader cannot escape ... each other. Their only hope are the lost secrets of the great sage and his words that could save them. But first, they must decipher their meaning, as the the hidden providence of the world rests unknowingly on their shoulders. With the Ypatingas Burys on their heals, only the secrets of the Gra can help them survive.
The Purpose is an adventure for those souls who know that darkness is the absence of light. It is a mystical exploration into the depths of human nature in a story that will touch the hearts of those who are interested in the mysteries of love and war ...
Praise for The
The poetic narrative is written in a style remnant of some of the best authors of the last century, namely Michael Ondaatje; additionally, a feminine quality to Abraham’s diction and syntax, similar to Barbara Kingsolver’s writing, only adds to the beauty of the narrative and the love story at the core of the novel. This is a love story that should not be over-sentimentalised, nor should its sentiment be trivialised. I feel that Abraham handles this balance adeptly, and this is one of the major strengths of the narrative. Finally, there are a few action scenes and moments of conspiracy and mystery that create heightened tension within both narrative and reader, and the ability of Abraham to weave a story of both fact and fiction into a highly plausible plot can be compared to the similar ability of the late Stieg Larsson.
- Claire Strombeck
350 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 12, 2011
15 people are currently reading
34 people want to read
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February 16, 2017
Review: The Purpose by Stephen Abraham. 3.5 Stars 350 pages
The author capitalizes on a discovery he came across in 2007 when he visited Cape Town Holocaust Center and decided to creatively explore his roots through fiction. Stephen Abraham discovered a post card addressed to his late grandfather, Benni Abraham that was post marked 1918. His grandfather was a Lithuanian boxer who found his love and eloped to South Africa during the 1900’s. The author himself was born in 1969 in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, during the Apartheid Government regime, which was in 1948 through the 1990’s.
Compelled to find out more Stephen Abraham researches about WWII and his family in Lithuania. His search revealed injustices by the Lithuanians, which continued into current times. Finding this information Stephen Abraham was ready to write his story with a historic narrative revealing the Lithuanian brutality.
I love history because it fascinates and captures my curiosity however this story was a little complex. It was about military war combined with a ancestral love story. The story was written in a past flashback style to modern times. Inspired by true events and the discovery of a post card, The Purpose, is a novel set in the aftermath of Lithuanian participation in the Holocaust and a journey of mystical love. Between these two woven stories are the lost secrets of a wise mans knowledge that connected the two events, even though they are years apart, finalizes a mournful ending but delivers a thrilling adventure.
The story start in 1941 when an American pilot, Davie was on a classified mission and crashes his plane and a women name Leah who was the leader of a group of Partisans who saves and cares for his injuries in the Panerao forest on the outskirts of Vilnius the Capital City of Lithuania. However, they still are not safe as they were being savagely hunted by Alimantas Lutikis the leader of the SS authorized Ypatingas Burys death squad.
As the story goes on Abraham gives a gripping Holocaust account, which I though was well written, to the truth behind the Lithuanian massacres. In his story it wasn’t the Germans who were killing the Jews, it was the Lithuanian’s. They would have someone dig these huge deep trenches and bring in truck loads of women and children and line twenty up at a time on the edge of the trenches after making them take off their clothes and had them face the trench and they would shower them with bullets and they would fall forward dead and than twenty more were lined up. This was in the same area that Davie and Leah and others hid out moving place to place every few hours. They witness a few of these scenes and did nothing because then their group would be slain. The Lithuanian’s already knew they were in hiding but they couldn’t find them.
Somehow, the ancestral love story was between Leah and Davie within this story and then in more modern times another love story that never flowered between Chanti and Ravi who was a Jewish rabbi. That’s what brought the story to an end. There was plenty of adventure, suspense, horror, war and love.
“The story is an adventure for those souls who know that darkness is the absence of light. It is a mystical exploration into the depths of human nature in a story that will touch the hearts of those who are interested in the mysteries of love and war…”
---Unknown---
The author capitalizes on a discovery he came across in 2007 when he visited Cape Town Holocaust Center and decided to creatively explore his roots through fiction. Stephen Abraham discovered a post card addressed to his late grandfather, Benni Abraham that was post marked 1918. His grandfather was a Lithuanian boxer who found his love and eloped to South Africa during the 1900’s. The author himself was born in 1969 in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, during the Apartheid Government regime, which was in 1948 through the 1990’s.
Compelled to find out more Stephen Abraham researches about WWII and his family in Lithuania. His search revealed injustices by the Lithuanians, which continued into current times. Finding this information Stephen Abraham was ready to write his story with a historic narrative revealing the Lithuanian brutality.
I love history because it fascinates and captures my curiosity however this story was a little complex. It was about military war combined with a ancestral love story. The story was written in a past flashback style to modern times. Inspired by true events and the discovery of a post card, The Purpose, is a novel set in the aftermath of Lithuanian participation in the Holocaust and a journey of mystical love. Between these two woven stories are the lost secrets of a wise mans knowledge that connected the two events, even though they are years apart, finalizes a mournful ending but delivers a thrilling adventure.
The story start in 1941 when an American pilot, Davie was on a classified mission and crashes his plane and a women name Leah who was the leader of a group of Partisans who saves and cares for his injuries in the Panerao forest on the outskirts of Vilnius the Capital City of Lithuania. However, they still are not safe as they were being savagely hunted by Alimantas Lutikis the leader of the SS authorized Ypatingas Burys death squad.
As the story goes on Abraham gives a gripping Holocaust account, which I though was well written, to the truth behind the Lithuanian massacres. In his story it wasn’t the Germans who were killing the Jews, it was the Lithuanian’s. They would have someone dig these huge deep trenches and bring in truck loads of women and children and line twenty up at a time on the edge of the trenches after making them take off their clothes and had them face the trench and they would shower them with bullets and they would fall forward dead and than twenty more were lined up. This was in the same area that Davie and Leah and others hid out moving place to place every few hours. They witness a few of these scenes and did nothing because then their group would be slain. The Lithuanian’s already knew they were in hiding but they couldn’t find them.
Somehow, the ancestral love story was between Leah and Davie within this story and then in more modern times another love story that never flowered between Chanti and Ravi who was a Jewish rabbi. That’s what brought the story to an end. There was plenty of adventure, suspense, horror, war and love.
“The story is an adventure for those souls who know that darkness is the absence of light. It is a mystical exploration into the depths of human nature in a story that will touch the hearts of those who are interested in the mysteries of love and war…”
---Unknown---
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