Where the Lilacs Bloom Once Again: Friddie's story

Friddie, 18, is an ordinary yet rebellious young Jewish woman, living in Bucharest in the 1930s. Born and raised in Romania's capital, she dreams of living as a "free Romanian woman."

After calling off her wedding to a young, parentally-approved accountant, she escapes to a city on the coast, where she meets a scientist-perfumer named Freddy. He is the true love she has been looking for-and a ticket to her dream.

Soon, though, that dream turns into a nightmare she never could have predicted.

Friddie's story of incredible hardship is interwoven with the stories of her family. We follow her Aunt Rosa's life as the glue of her household, even though she loses her husband in mysterious circumstances; her Uncle David, who dreams of becoming a schoolteacher and starting a family in Ia¿i, and her cousins, who uproot their lives in Bucharest to start again in Israel.

In this tragic-heroic novel, the true stories, the victims, and the small moments of happiness are revealed in the Danube's labor camps, under the fascist-dictatorial and communist rule that has been a part of Romania for so many years.

Based on the true experiences of a Jewish Romanian family, Where the Lilacs Bloom Once Again unearths stories that could so easily be lost to the passage of time. This family's tale has emerged at a critical time, to show the need for compassion and kindness, even in the hardest moments.

About the author

Roni (Aharona) Rosenthal, PhD, was born in Haifa, Israel. She is named after her grandfather Aharon, who passed away eight months before her birth.

Roni is the Director of Judaic Studies and a Hebrew Literature Professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. This is her third novel.