Anna has a secret. It would mean her death if discovered.
In PINE, my 14 year old protagonist is living during a devastating period in Ukrainian history. Called The Holodomor, the famine that killed 7 million Ukrainians in the span of one year is the setting where we find Anna. Thankfully she is rescued from absolute starvation shortly after the story begins, yet the memories chase her throughout the rest of the book.
I just found this documentary on The Holodomor. Though part of it is in Russian, there is a narrator that gives a good account in English. A warning however. This bit of video is extremely graphic.
While writing PINE, I spent many hours researching the famine, much of which was personal accounts and examined many photographs. Though none of these pictures are new to me, I still cringe away while watching, yet to not watch is to sweep it under the rug.
This famine was kept secret from the world and as my previous posts clearly states, it is still strongly denied. Unfortunately for the nay-sayers, there are survivors to tell the truth of what happened.
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