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Seen through the eyes of an innocent young girl, a beautiful people, a beautiful culture, a beautiful country, are torn apart, burnt, raped, looted and plundered by an evil empire. One by one, Negdar watches her family cruelly stolen from her, until only one sister, Sonia, remains to her. They hold on to shreds of hope, but the evil ones try to beat and rape that hope away until it is nearly gone. One night it is do or die, escape, or face death in the ultimate death camp. Half-starved and terrified they will be caught, the two sisters are given shelter by compassionate farmers who show them the way to a refugee camp in Aleppo. There, Negdar meets her first love, a girl named Lusine, an orphan like herself. They joyfully plan a life together but Lusine mysteriously disappears during their stay in Beirut. Negdar, Sonia, and Sonia's new boyfriend Masis travel to Sardinia, France, and finally Wales, where at last they feel safe, and where Negdar meets the only person who could possibly be good enough to take Lusine's place in her heart.
- GenresShort StoriesLGBT
ebook
Published April 11, 2018
26 people want to read
About the author
Laura Susan Johnson
15 books58 followersLaura Susan Johnson has been writing since age eleven, cutting her teeth on tales of the family pets. Aside from writing, Laura Susan enjoys quilting, playing around with colorful makeup, clothing and hair colors, web design, and vegan cooking. She resides in California, Idaho, Arkansas, and the northern coast of Oregon.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 6, 2017
The first thing to note about this is that the prose is absolutely gorgeous. It's poetic but not in an over-the-top way. Each phrase feels carefully sculpted to capture the emotions of the moment.
There is horrific violence and tragedy at the heart of this story. In a tale about genocide, how could it be any different? But there are also threads of hope and resilience throughout. We don't need every last graphic detail in order to feel sick and want to turn away at the horrors Negdar faces. This is proof that it doesn't need to be explicit in order to convey the right emotions.
Negdar is an incredible hero. Her survival is miraculous. She is not a person to be pitied, even though I do feel shock and grief over the terrible things she witnesses and experiences. She would probably not see herself as someone to be admired, and yet I do.
What I love is that as terrible as the violence is, and as hard as Negdar's life is, this is not written to be inspirational/tragedy voyeurism. We are meant, I think, to understand Negdar through her life story. It also doesn't feel like an educational story, even though this is a time and place in history that few Americans know about. Somehow, though, I do feel as if I've learned a great deal from it.
This is a tough read and requires knowing ahead that it is not pretty. However, it is superbly written and worth the time to read it.
There is horrific violence and tragedy at the heart of this story. In a tale about genocide, how could it be any different? But there are also threads of hope and resilience throughout. We don't need every last graphic detail in order to feel sick and want to turn away at the horrors Negdar faces. This is proof that it doesn't need to be explicit in order to convey the right emotions.
Negdar is an incredible hero. Her survival is miraculous. She is not a person to be pitied, even though I do feel shock and grief over the terrible things she witnesses and experiences. She would probably not see herself as someone to be admired, and yet I do.
What I love is that as terrible as the violence is, and as hard as Negdar's life is, this is not written to be inspirational/tragedy voyeurism. We are meant, I think, to understand Negdar through her life story. It also doesn't feel like an educational story, even though this is a time and place in history that few Americans know about. Somehow, though, I do feel as if I've learned a great deal from it.
This is a tough read and requires knowing ahead that it is not pretty. However, it is superbly written and worth the time to read it.
December 7, 2017
Editor's Review
There is so much I admire about Laura Susan Johnson's writing. She is what I think of as a 'real writer' who doesn't shy away from the hard stuff, and she really works at her craft. I know, from being her editor, that every word is carefully considered, every sentence worked and reworked until it is just right. I love her stories for that, even if at times they cut me to the core.
Nectar is a story of survival and resilience. The narrator - Nedgar - is so brave and strong. The depiction of what she endured and witnessed isn't graphic, but it's enough to understand the horrors of the Armenian genocide - something I knew nothing about prior to reading this story. Many of us won't, because history forgets, moves on, gets subsumed under further atrocities.
It makes this an important story - an opportunity to learn so that one day we can stop saying 'we must never let this happen again'. Nectar is also a beautifully written story - literary - and should be read for that reason too, with the forewarning that it deals with events some (most) readers will find difficult.
There is so much I admire about Laura Susan Johnson's writing. She is what I think of as a 'real writer' who doesn't shy away from the hard stuff, and she really works at her craft. I know, from being her editor, that every word is carefully considered, every sentence worked and reworked until it is just right. I love her stories for that, even if at times they cut me to the core.
Nectar is a story of survival and resilience. The narrator - Nedgar - is so brave and strong. The depiction of what she endured and witnessed isn't graphic, but it's enough to understand the horrors of the Armenian genocide - something I knew nothing about prior to reading this story. Many of us won't, because history forgets, moves on, gets subsumed under further atrocities.
It makes this an important story - an opportunity to learn so that one day we can stop saying 'we must never let this happen again'. Nectar is also a beautifully written story - literary - and should be read for that reason too, with the forewarning that it deals with events some (most) readers will find difficult.
January 26, 2018
This was hard, extremely hard to read. I haven’t figure my mind about this one yet. I don’t consider myself a too sensitive reader. I don’t get easily offended by violence or similar things in books and yet, this story push really hard my limits. It’s been one of the few occasions when I even consider stop reading something, but keep reading expecting some redeeming elements that were, eventually, delivered.
Negdar, the main character was a strong and determined women that show a great message of hope. The narrative was amazing, the author did such a great job that I could feel present in every scenes described, maybe that what made it such a hard read. I still think that was one of the things I liked the most about it. I appreciate a lot the fact that the author wasn’t too graphic about the abuses.
Overall it was a very well reading but a difficult story to read because of the subject it address. I don’t think it’ll be appropriate for every reader and I think the blurb fell short with the warnings. Before reading it beware it contains genocide, infanticide, torture, rape and violence. That known, the story is really good and I certainly feel intrigued by the author and I would like to try another of her books, maybe on a lighter subject.
Negdar, the main character was a strong and determined women that show a great message of hope. The narrative was amazing, the author did such a great job that I could feel present in every scenes described, maybe that what made it such a hard read. I still think that was one of the things I liked the most about it. I appreciate a lot the fact that the author wasn’t too graphic about the abuses.
Overall it was a very well reading but a difficult story to read because of the subject it address. I don’t think it’ll be appropriate for every reader and I think the blurb fell short with the warnings. Before reading it beware it contains genocide, infanticide, torture, rape and violence. That known, the story is really good and I certainly feel intrigued by the author and I would like to try another of her books, maybe on a lighter subject.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews