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Sofia's Story: The Shattered Seeds
Sofia's Story, The Shattered Seeds
Authored by Maura Clu Gallagher
Cover design or artwork by Karen Curlett Kelly
Edited by Kathleen Sukalac, Maura Clu Gallagher
This is the final and cameo edition of the author's first manuscript originally published as SHATTERED STORY' and subsequently retired due to copyright violations. It is not the ORIGINAL and has been edited to reflect changes to the corrupted files of the first editions which are all now retired in both Kindle and Paper Editions. FYI, the author has also made this story the first volume in her series of novels about immigrant families titled, ANEW (SOFIA'S STORY) THE SCATTERED SEEDS TALES FROM THE GREAT MELTING POT.
Although born on different continents and at different times in the 20th Century, the two main characters in SOFIA’S STORY, THE SHATTERED SEEDS have a commonality – both are writers and both are immigrants to America. The novel opens in 2008. Thirty-something Janene McDeenon, a writer/editor of a magazine in Atlanta, is traveling to Pittsburgh to interview a famous writer, Sofia Blackburn-Anderson (pen named ‘Sophie Simon’) for an article on "Adoption in America" that she is writing for a magazine. Sofia established the largest chain of worldwide adoption centers for needy children, W.O.O.Q (World Organization of Quilts) and Janene found her during her research on the internet. Orphaned in infancy in S. Vietnam and adopted by a loving American couple in 1972, Janene is the mixed race daughter of a Vietnamese woman and an African American soldier. She hopes the current assignment will also help in her personal search to find her biological family, especially her Vietnamese mother. Raised in Atlanta, she had little contact with others of her race. On the other hand, Sofia was born in Berlin in 1919 and raised with the many traditions of her German family. Once married to a Nazi Officer in an arranged marriage, she ran away from her evil husband in 1944, a flight that shattered her life, taking away everyone and everything she ever loved. Consequently, she denounced all ties to her heritage, vowing never again to acknowledge that she was a German.
Strangers, Sofia sets the tone for Janene’s interview by reciting one story after another about her life, including the fact that she believes that Janene is actually her long lost granddaughter. Janene doesn't know what to believe, but as she listens to Sofia recite stories as if she is reading them from a script, she forms a bond that transpires Time and the distance of three continents. Sofia asks Janene to be her guest at her mansion and the meeting becomes a weekend of marathon story telling in which Janene also shares hopes and aspirations for the future, including finding her Vietnamese mother. Sofia promises to help Janene in her search. In ill health and facing death, Sofia secretly hopes to find the proper disposition for the one item in her vast estate she values most, her beloved Oma’s quilt. The quilt is her only relic of her German heritage and, after many years of denying it, she wants to put her affairs in order before she dies and embrace her German roots one last time.
A story within a story, Sofia tells about her tragic but triumphant life, sharing tales about her German family, farmers outside of Berlin who became homeless after losing fields due to the economic conditions in Germany after their loss of WWI. Although Janene knows nothing about her Vietnamese ancestors, the plot eventually reveals that Janene’s maternal ancestors were also farmers in the rice paddies of Vietnam until the Viet Cong destroyed the village. This explains the author’s selection of the title, comparing the process of prematurely 'shattering' the seeds of plants to destroying the genes of another generation of humans through the practices of war.
Please visit the author's website for more information
Authored by Maura Clu Gallagher
Cover design or artwork by Karen Curlett Kelly
Edited by Kathleen Sukalac, Maura Clu Gallagher
This is the final and cameo edition of the author's first manuscript originally published as SHATTERED STORY' and subsequently retired due to copyright violations. It is not the ORIGINAL and has been edited to reflect changes to the corrupted files of the first editions which are all now retired in both Kindle and Paper Editions. FYI, the author has also made this story the first volume in her series of novels about immigrant families titled, ANEW (SOFIA'S STORY) THE SCATTERED SEEDS TALES FROM THE GREAT MELTING POT.
Although born on different continents and at different times in the 20th Century, the two main characters in SOFIA’S STORY, THE SHATTERED SEEDS have a commonality – both are writers and both are immigrants to America. The novel opens in 2008. Thirty-something Janene McDeenon, a writer/editor of a magazine in Atlanta, is traveling to Pittsburgh to interview a famous writer, Sofia Blackburn-Anderson (pen named ‘Sophie Simon’) for an article on "Adoption in America" that she is writing for a magazine. Sofia established the largest chain of worldwide adoption centers for needy children, W.O.O.Q (World Organization of Quilts) and Janene found her during her research on the internet. Orphaned in infancy in S. Vietnam and adopted by a loving American couple in 1972, Janene is the mixed race daughter of a Vietnamese woman and an African American soldier. She hopes the current assignment will also help in her personal search to find her biological family, especially her Vietnamese mother. Raised in Atlanta, she had little contact with others of her race. On the other hand, Sofia was born in Berlin in 1919 and raised with the many traditions of her German family. Once married to a Nazi Officer in an arranged marriage, she ran away from her evil husband in 1944, a flight that shattered her life, taking away everyone and everything she ever loved. Consequently, she denounced all ties to her heritage, vowing never again to acknowledge that she was a German.
Strangers, Sofia sets the tone for Janene’s interview by reciting one story after another about her life, including the fact that she believes that Janene is actually her long lost granddaughter. Janene doesn't know what to believe, but as she listens to Sofia recite stories as if she is reading them from a script, she forms a bond that transpires Time and the distance of three continents. Sofia asks Janene to be her guest at her mansion and the meeting becomes a weekend of marathon story telling in which Janene also shares hopes and aspirations for the future, including finding her Vietnamese mother. Sofia promises to help Janene in her search. In ill health and facing death, Sofia secretly hopes to find the proper disposition for the one item in her vast estate she values most, her beloved Oma’s quilt. The quilt is her only relic of her German heritage and, after many years of denying it, she wants to put her affairs in order before she dies and embrace her German roots one last time.
A story within a story, Sofia tells about her tragic but triumphant life, sharing tales about her German family, farmers outside of Berlin who became homeless after losing fields due to the economic conditions in Germany after their loss of WWI. Although Janene knows nothing about her Vietnamese ancestors, the plot eventually reveals that Janene’s maternal ancestors were also farmers in the rice paddies of Vietnam until the Viet Cong destroyed the village. This explains the author’s selection of the title, comparing the process of prematurely 'shattering' the seeds of plants to destroying the genes of another generation of humans through the practices of war.
Please visit the author's website for more information
292 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 10, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 8, 2014
This is a book simply written that has a huge impact on the reader. I was able to actually "feel" the pain and emotions that were part of this story. It started out somewhat slow for me, but after about half way through and until the end, things moved along very nicely ... the ending brought many surprises and feelings for the reader.
May 29, 2015
Most parts of the book are good but towards the end it becomes confusing, disconnected and wordy. There are pages and pages of dribble at the last quarter of the read. This was extremely disappointing. A good editor may have been able to clean this up, so much for self publishing.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews