Distant Moments – Angela’s Story is a novel of bravery and survival in what was known in the early part of the last century as the hope for a new beginning: the United States of America. Young Angela Pollak was born in what was then Austria-Hungary. Her family’s mounting debts caused her parents to bind her in wedlock to her cousin, Hans, in exchange for financial security. Angela was distressed and confused, unable to understand how her parents could arrange her marriage purely on financial grounds – and to a relative, no less. Her parents tried to make her feel better by telling her that Hans was adopted, but she wasn’t consoled by this news and spent most of her days suffering silently. She despised Hans, a self-centered, arrogant man, from the moment she met him. She knew there was nothing she could ever do to change him. Soon after their wedding – and much to Angela’s joy – Hans decided to seek his fortune in America, leaving her behind. She enjoyed a quiet and happy two years until Hans sent her a letter, requesting that she join him in America, a land vastly different from the one she knew and one she had never dreamed of living in. Angela’s mother, who had never showed any love for her firstborn child, wasn’t distressed by Hans’ request. Angela believed her mother resented her for ruining her appeal to men through the hardships of pregnancy, birth and child rearing. Her father, on the other hand, knew about his wife’s lack of endearment for his daughter, and this caused him to love Angela even more, favoring her over all the others. He was deeply upset by Hans’ request and regretted arranging her marriage to him. Angela’s Oma (grandmother) was most shaken by the news. Angela and her Oma had always had a special bond between them and putting them thousands of miles apart was a very painful experience for them both. In New York, Hans became a raging drunk and had an affair with a woman named Reya. The years that followed were emotional and difficult for Angela. Living with her drunkard husband and eventually picking up the pieces after he left changed her life forever. The book recounts her struggles in this strange new land, learning a new language and a new way of life as she merges into the melting pot to pioneer Antique Row in New York in the years leading up to World War I. Distant Moments tells the tale of a strong-willed woman who never gave up and worked hard for all she got. It is a romance, a drama and a historical novel all wrapped into one. Billed as historical fiction, in reality this book is a somewhat fictionalized version of real events. Landry, a member of the Conroe Scribblers writing group, acknowledges that she appears as the character named Maria. The fiction disclaimer is her way of acknowledging that she may have taken certain liberties with the way events unfolded or how characters acted. A series of photographs spanning the years 1907-1915 in the middle of the book confirms that the characters portrayed here are based on real life. Avoid reading the description on the back cover until after you’ve finished the book, as it gives away enough of the plot that it may spoil your enjoyment of the story. Web site and all contents © Copyright Bev Vincent 2023. All rights reserved. |
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