A year ago Putin invaded Ukraine, starting the first large-scale war fought on European soil in generations. The last time was WWII, which began when the Munich Agreement of September 30, 1938 failed to forestall war. The agreement gave into Hitler’s demands for a part of Czechoslovakia. Instead of peace, the agreement was followed by the occupation of what is now the Czech Republic the next spring, and then the invasion of Poland in 1939. My historical novel, Caravans in the Dark, is set in that pivotal time and place—Czechoslovakia, 1938 and 1939.
Caravans in the Dark will be published June 6, 2023. It is available for presale: https://a.co/d/90sf85b
Advance Praise for Caravans in the Dark:
Caravans in the Dark is everything historical fiction ought to be. At once fascinating in its period detail, epic in scope, and impossibly rich, it not only brings the past to resplendent light, but also illuminates the foibles of our contemporary moment. On top of all this, it’s a novel fairly bursting with characters to fall in love with. What an accomplishment from a writer who can seemingly do it all.
—Peter Geye, author of The Ski Jumpers
By creating an unlikely heroin B.K. Oldre captures the centuries-old persecution and suffering of the Romani people that culminated in Porajmos, the genocide committed against the Roma during WWII. Jana encapsulates crucial elements of the recurring prejudice against the Roma, and at the same time illuminates a reality in which Roma cease to be nonhuman.
—Habiba Hadziavdic, author of Antigypsyism and Film
B.K. Oldre’s Caravans in the Dark captures a not-often-told World War II story—that of the persecution of the Romani people in Czechoslovakia. Deeply researched and tenderly rendered, the novel paints a portrait of a Romani family leaving their nomadic life to settle in Prague ahead of the Nazi invasion. Through its fifteen-year-old heroine, Jana, we confront her coming of age struggles and desires, set against the day-to-day darkness of war and the small acts of grace. Readers of historical fiction and those interested in WWII stories will find much to admire.
—Linda Kass, author of Tasa’s Song and A Ritchie Boy
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