Journey to Polonia — Geraldine Prusko

Journey to Polonia Investigating her family history helps a teenager heal after a brutal attack. Olivia, 17, becomes the victim of a rape by someone she knows on her way home from school. Unwilling to face her classmates, she turns to her extended family while she heals, listening to stories about their journeys from Poland in the late 19th century. Her grandmother's story touches her deeply.

She hears about Albert and Sara, who leave for America just one step ahead of revenue agents; Peter and Ursula, who dream of a land without oppression; and Francis and Anna, who emigrate rather than endure rule by the Russians, even though Anna was forced to travel alone. Listening to their stories brings strength to Olivia, who learns of their courage in creating new lives.

Set in the 1960s, the novel also highlights the history of Poland in the 1800s, when it existed mainly in the minds of its people because the country did not exist from 1795 to 1918. Without a homeland to call their own, immigrants to the United States had to claim Germany, Russia or Austria as their native country, and more than a million did so in that timeframe. Like Olivia's ancestors, they found community in neighborhoods and Roman Catholic churches that spoke their language and followed Polish customs.

Journey to Polonia echoes the author's own family history of immigrants and will resonate with anyone who has taken a chance on a better way of life.

Geraldine Prusko finds her 35 years in corporate litigation honed her skill at embellishment in her latest career as a novelist, her dream job. She ran Vintage Bookworm in a small New Hampshire town, selling antique books for 10 years after retiring as a lawyer. Geraldine and her husband live in Mount Dora, Florida.

This debut novel, the first in a series, describes Polish immigrants who came to the United States at the end of the 19th century, starting new lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A second book, already in progress, will show how their lives unfold in their adopted country.