DUALITY

by Ica Iova

At twenty-eight, Romanian army wife, DIANA ANDREI, has everything that means stability and security—a career, a loving family, a roof over her head and food on her table.But when her husband and two other men team up and escape to the West, they plunge their wives into a foreign reality brimming with secret police, then entwine their fates amongst culture shock, language barrier, betrayal, and loss while struggling to start over in Canada. Inspired by a true story, Duality offers a window in the lives of those who experience racism and alienation while struggling to find their paths in life.

349 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 4, 2020

About the author

Ica Iova is a Canadian multi award-winning author of several books. In 2014, her award-winning romance novel, Boundaries, was a finalist at World’s Best Story. Also in 2014, Ica won 3rd place at Tallenge short story competition with a short story titled, The Haunted House.
In 2015 her paranormal romance She Never Got To Say Goodbye won bronze at World’s Best Story
She writes what she enjoys reading. When she is not writing, editing, or marketing, she’s a proud wife, mother, and grandmother, with a substantial sense of humor. She loves spending time with her family and pets, shopping for shoes, or just lazing around with a good book. She values the simple things money can’t buy, never compares herself with anyone else, never expects others to agree with her, and never follows the crowd.

Reviews

[Frank Parker · Rating 3 out of 5]

As in cooking, so in fiction: some things don't mix well unless properly prepared. I could not help thinking, as I read this book, that here was a story based closely on real life. Probably, even, based on the author's own life. I have since seen a blog in which she confirms the truth of this.
But the blog also confirms that she is a passionate opponent of the present regime in the USA. And that is where the problem arises. She has allowed her passion to get in the way of telling a good story.
But, as I indicated in my opening sentence, proper preparation could have saved this recipe from splitting like a poorly prepared sauce.
The central story, of a family escaping from communist Romania and making new lives in Canada, is illuminating and well told. The problem arises when Diana, the principal protagonist, starts sounding off about the present political situation in the USA, in a scene set in 1992. I don't disagree with her assessment of Trump's America and I admire the passion with which she expounds it, drawing parallels with her experience of living under a dictatorship.
Trying to rationalise the insertion of such a dialogue into 1992 by inventing a fictional candidate for the election that took place that year simply did not work for me, especially as the same conversation also refers to the banking crisis of 2008 and its aftermath. Distorting real history in such a way destroyed my belief in the veracity of everything else in the book.
And the sad part is that we are presented, at the beginning of the book, with the two main characters meeting in May of 2020 before commencing to tell their story. All that was needed was for the conversation about Trump and his antics to be transferred to another section set in the present, instead of being thrust out of context into the early nineties.
Another thing that did not sit too well with me was a conversation in which Romanian beggars in Europe were dismissed as being not true Romanians, but Romany people. Thereby showing the protagonist's own bigoted stereotyping of another persecuted group.
I would also have liked some more information about Diana's life in the intervening years. How, for example, did she become a widow? What happened to her husband and what became of her two surviving children? Perhaps that is being saved for a sequel.
For all of these reasons I find myself unable to recommend this book and can not rate it as worthy of more than 3 stars.

[Edward Rickford · Rating 3 out of 5]

Communist Romania has inspired a great deal of articles and movies, but I have never read a full-length book on the subject so I was delighted to come across Duality in my reading group. The book explores many themes still relevant today--the struggles of ordinary people in authoritarian regimes, the conflict between tradition and contemporary life, and xenophobia--and hooked me in just the first few pages. As the book progressed, it lost a great deal of narrative energy and I must admit that I wish it had been shorter. The final third of the book is definitely the weakest in my opinion, and the first third is definitely the strongest, but the answer will probably depend upon the reader. I liked the dynamic between the different characters, and I like that the author didn’t restrict herself to just one POV. Having said that, Diana’s POV was definitely the most interesting, especially when she was still living in Romania. I did notice some odd spacing issues in the book but overall, the book was a pretty easy read. Had the book been shorter, I probably would have given it four stars but it dragged toward the end so I feel I have to give it three stars.

[G.J. Griffiths · Rating 4 out of 5]

Duality is a very revealing novel about the cultural differences between Romania under President Ceausescu and Canada during the 1980s. The major part of the novel is about the pressures experienced by an immigrant family in their attempts to adapt to their new life after escaping through Yugoslavia in order to move to Canada. The story is told through the difficulties encountered by the families of Diana and Paul, and Lili and Alex. They must cope with learning a new language, their children’s schooling, finding decent jobs and somewhere to live that suits their aspirations and previous life in Romania. Meanwhile there are prejudice, jealousy and social influences that affect their children. The writing was very good with many bouts of introspection from Diana and Lili that allowed the reader to share some of the heart break and emotions suffered by them. The dialogue was realistic and I could sympathise with each of the main characters. Their trials and tribulations over several years are covered very well; but my only criticism was about last couple of chapters when there is an overlong harangue about the US government, and when there seemed to be some explanation missing during Diana’s violent encounter with Liana.

[Gabriela Dumitrean]

This book reflects my parents struggling for a life of freedom, I remember waking up in the middle of the night to my mom’s voice saying to my dad, don't leave me here. He promised he would come back for us. In the weeks shortly after he escaped, my mom took us from my grandparents and got on a train, I was playing with her earrings on that long ride to meet my dad and she took them off and gave them to me. Not understanding why she gave me her favorite gold earrings that day, now, I understand that she was preparing to be separated from my brother and I. She was preparing for the worst circumstances. This is a real struggle that many families experience during migration, fear of being torn apart by governments and borders.
I loved reading this book, even if I already knew how the story ended!!

[Gordon Bickerstaff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspired by a true story

This is a historical political fiction story inspired by a true events, and centred on experiences of Romanian families escaping a communist regime to face racism and alienation while struggling to make a new life in Canada. Details are harrowing and more so if they were based on real experiences. I was confused toward the end about what the current political events in USA 2020 had to do with 1992 Romania. Sorry, I didn’t get it. I did find myself wondering what happened to some of the characters whose story arcs weren’t fully resolved. Otherwise, this is a powerful, emotional story reflecting a difficult and agonizing time for families seeking to escape persecution.

[Carol Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Duality by Ica Iova is the story of a Romanian woman, Diana, and her life as the wife of a soldier, daughter of farmers, mother of two, and immigrant to Canada. When her husband decides to make a run for it to North America, Diana’s well-ordered life is reduced to shambles. The plight of an immigrant family is detailed in this touching, sometimes heartbreaking, political journey toward a better life in North America. Diana’s journey, full of triumph and heartbreak, is well written with characters that are hard to forget. This story of the plight of migrant families should be mandatory reading for anyone who thinks they know it all on immigrants.