Nadia: Book 1: Poland

by Lois Gerber

Nadia is the coming-of-age story of a young Catholic girl growing up in the outskirts of Warsaw during WWII and of her personal quest to fight injustice by joining the Polish underground. She befriends a Jewish boy her parents hide in their attic, a Gypsy girl she finds in a tree in her back yard and lastly, Henryk, the boy who wants to spend the rest of his life with her. Nadia's story is a window to a history chronicling the Nazi occupation and the Russian invasion. An unforgettable, compelling character who finds the courage to act and the compassion to help others by risking her own life amid the loss of almost everything and everyone dear to her, Nadia struggles to survive throughout her ordeals while seeking and hoping for a better life.

322 pages, Paperback

Published October 3, 2016

About the author

Lois Gerber, RN, BSN, MPH believes in the spirit of community health nursing-its focus on wellness, relationships, families, and communities. Her Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from the University of Pittsburgh and her Master of Public Health degree from the University of Michigan opened many professional doors. In 1993, she received the Excellence in Nursing practice award from the Kappa Iota chapter of Sigma Theta Tau, an international nursing honor society.

As a child, Lois loved to read and write and was especially inspired by Helen Well's Cherry Ames book series about nurses practicing in the various nursing specialties. Pearl Buck, whose books focused on culture and family dynamics, was another of her favorite authors.

In Ohio and Michigan, Lois worked as a staff nurse and care coordinator in home health care agencies, public health departments, and an Area Agency on Aging. Along with being married and raising two children, she taught nursing students at the university level for twenty-four years. For eleven years, through her geriatric care management services, she counseled families dealing with elder care issues, developed care plans for their frail members, and monitored their living situations. Her goal was to provide individualized care and keep the patient as safe and independent as possible.

In 1995, she began to write clinical articles and stories about her patients' challenges in overcoming health and psychosocial problems. She expanded her writing endeavors when she moved to Florida in 2005. Presently, she has over fifty articles and stories published in nursing journals and women's literary magazines and three books on Amazon, all short story collections that reflect her community health nursing experiences.

Lois has done volunteer work for the Chiles Academy, a high school in Florida for pregnant and parenting teens. At the present time, she advocates for foster children through the state's Guardian Ad Litem program.

Lois has served people of all ages, various religions and ethnicities, and different socio-economic levels.

"Runaway Girl: A Nurse's Story" is meant to honor the nursing profession and the strong resilient nurses in it. It's a story of triumph over adversity and illustrates the power of the human spirit.

Reviews

[Carol Rogero · Rating 4 out of 5]

A compelling and heartwarming story that felt genuine throughout and really gave me a feel for what it was like to grow up in Warsaw during WWII. Looking forward to reading Part 2 of Nadia's story.

[Réal Laplaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

NADID: POLAND, by author Lois Gerber is a gut wrenching historical WWII romance that is haunting. Set in Poland, as the Nazi invasion takes place, we follow the story of a young girl, Nadia, who lives just outside Warsaw. As the war advances, she begins to witness the horrors of the inhumanity against the Jews, the internment of Jewish Poles in “The Ghetto” and eventually, the mass genocide which ensues. The young girl soon finds herself caring for a young Jew, a resistance fighter who is terribly ill and she falls in love with him. But the war steals him away, and as the years pass, the young girl, now inflamed by the inhumanity and cruelty of the Nazis joins the local resistance and engages in daring missions. Throughout this incredibly well-told story, one that lucidly details life in war-torn Poland, the travails of existence, the challenges of merely eating or having clothes or fresh water, and the constant mantle of fear and terror that the Polish people lived under during Nazi occupation, Nadia demonstrates all the true merits of great humanity, constantly putting herself in the face of danger, as does her own family, to help Jews and resistance fighters. The story (no spoilers) crescendos beautifully, a real page-turner, as the resistance fighters, Nadia included, go up against the Nazi’s and in the end, even when the war comes to an end, Nadia and the rest of the Polish people must face the brutal reality that the world has largely abandoned Poland, leaving the country in the hands of an even more cruel master than the Nazis – Communist Russia. This is an historical rendering, so utterly real, brutal and gut wrenching that it will make you writhe at times – but it is also a celebration of the human soul and the power of love which threads its way throughout all the gore, death and sordid affairs that war hails upon a people. Besides its value as a wonderful piece of literature, NADIA: POLAND, reminds us that war, hatred and racism are the stuff of hell and that mankind would be wise to learn from its mistakes. If you like historical and thrilling WWII novels – with a true touch of romance, read NADIA: POLAND. It won’t disappoint you.
This review also available at International Writers Inspiring Change.