Connections: A century-old secret revealed, a terrible crime uncovered, a reputation hangs in the balance

by Patrick Ryan

Tommy Walsh in Ireland and Anna Novak in Pennsylvania are brought together online when documenting their respective family trees. Anna’s great grandfather, Charles Novak, and his brother Leo fled from Poland to America in the late 1890s and settled in Philadelphia, experiencing contrasting lives and lifestyles. While working together to research the lives of their immigrant relations in America over 100 years ago, Tommy and Anna uncover the attempted assassination of a bishop in Philadelphia in 1912, leading to evidence of a sexual assault, of deceit and neglect and the restoration of Leo Novak’s reputation. These revelations had a devastating effect on both families but for very different reasons. Will Tommy and Anna be able to continue to build their growing relationship despite those revelations or will the actions of their ancestors continue to reverberate?

322 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 8, 2019

Reviews

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A search for the truth about a 100-year-old incident that was kept from police files and the press, and which was uncovered only by accident during an inter-continental search for family tree information.

A genealogist's dream. Everyone's story of cooperation and connection.

I read this EARC courtesy of Books Go Social and NetGalley. pub date 10/08/19