Chafing at the rules of the amber guild, Peter, an apprentice during the waning years of the Thirty Years’ War, finds and keeps a forbidden piece of amber, despite the risk of severe penalties should his secret be discovered.
Little does he know that this amber has hidden powers, transporting him into a future far beyond anything he could imagine. In dreamlike encounters, Peter witnesses the ravages of the final months of World War II in and around his home. He becomes embroiled in the troubles faced by Lioba, a girl he meets who seeks to escape from the oncoming Russian army.
Peter struggles with the consequences of his actions, endangering his family, his amber master’s reputation, and his own future. How much is Peter prepared to sacrifice to right his wrongs?
Trigger Warnings:
References
to rape, Holocaust, World War II, violence
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Malve von Hassell
(Stuff you may or may not already know.)
“Where are you
from?”
I moved to America when I was 13. It took me years to get used to the friendly question “So, where are you from?” I never knew how to answer this gracefully without providing too much information. “I was born in Italy,” I would say. “So you are Italian,” was the perplexed response. “No, I am German.” “Oh, but where were your parents from?” “Well, one was born in Italy, and the other in what is now Poland.” This is all true as is the fact that I lived in Germany only for about six years. I also became an American citizen many years ago. Meanwhile, I always will be grateful for the kindness and genuine interest with which these questions were asked.
My favorite journey
Once, after having completed a large project, I indulged myself with a ten-day journey to Italy, where I joined a horseback riding tour. We rode around Lago Trasimeno in Umbria and stayed in charming inns, farms, and even for one night in a monastery, where the nuns reprimanded us for laughing too loud at night. The trip was chaotic, included interesting foods such as tripe and homemade wine, and provided me with the most fun I ever had in my entire life.
Favorite work experience
I have been very fortunate in having been able to work on a number of amazing projects. I once worked on a study of community gardens in New York City. In the course of this study, I interviewed gardeners in all boroughs, participated in garden work and community events, and even was invited to meals lovingly prepared with produce grown in the gardens. It was the most wonderful and inspiring experience I ever had to see people create miracles in the middle of the city, often on abandoned lots, and with few resources to smooth their path. Learning about their history was a privilege and a joy.
Community garden on the Lower East Side of New York City
Adventures with Loki the Incorrigible
I have lived in my neighborhood on Long Island for many years, and I call it home. Home includes a series of dogs that shared our life over the last decades. Our current dog is a black beagle-mix rescue known as Loki the Incorrigible. The other day, I visited a neighbor with a charming dog. In light of the fence around the property, I thought the two dogs could run around. Loki was thrilled. The neighbor's dog was thrilled. But Loki quickly spied an area in the fence where he could make his escape into the great wilderness of my neighborhood. Desperate and furious, I ran home to alert my son and to get the car. So both of us drove around checking all the likely places where Loki might have gone to ground, munching on delightful deer carcasses, fish, discarded hamburger wrappers, and other equally irresistible culinary items. No Loki. I returned home, picturing the production of search posters and calls to animal shelters. But here Richard the truck driver entered our lives. On his way home, driving along a major thoroughfare, he noticed Loki happily dashing back and forth in the middle of traffic. He immediately recognized an unreconstructed canine free spirit and pulled over—not an easy thing to do on this particular road. Loki thought the truck was delightful. He happily hopped in and proceeded to steal Richard's leftover lunch and was pleased to be offered water to drink. And then Richard in the kindness of his heart drove him to our house. Loki was pleased to see us and elated with his adventure. BEWARE BEAGLE MIXES!
Here he is in his famous rendition of "I am a very good dog.”
Life in my neighborhood: manna from heaven
The other morning, walking along, on my way home from a beautiful wetlands area near my house, and grousing to myself about the humidity, unlimited amounts of street trash, and my dog Loki's penchant for eating everything in sight, a car stopped next to me and a familiar voice sternly instructed me to take what was being held out—a jar of incomparably wonderful honey fresh from the hives maintained by a local beekeeper extraordinaire and dear friend. That was the best morning ever.
Wetlands near my house
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Malve von Hassell
Malve von Hassell is a freelance writer,
researcher, and translator. She holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from the New
School for Social Research. Working as an independent scholar, she published The Struggle for Eden: Community Gardens in
New York City (Bergin & Garvey 2002) and Homesteading in New York City 1978-1993: The Divided Heart of Loisaida
(Bergin & Garvey 1996). She has also edited her grandfather Ulrich von
Hassell's memoirs written in prison in 1944, Der Kreis schließt sich - Aufzeichnungen aus der Haft 1944
(Propylaen Verlag 1994). She has taught at Queens College, Baruch College, Pace
University, and Suffolk County Community College, while continuing her work as
a translator and writer. She has self-published two children’s picture books, Letters from the Tooth Fairy (2012/2020)
and Turtle Crossing (2021), and her
translation and annotation of a German children’s classic by Tamara Ramsay, Rennefarre: Dott’s Wonderful Travels and
Adventures (Two Harbors Press, 2012). The
Falconer’s Apprentice (namelos, 2015) was her first historical fiction
novel for young adults. She has published Alina:
A Song for the Telling (BHC Press, 2020), set in Jerusalem in the time of
the crusades, and The Amber Crane
(Odyssey Books, 2021), set in Germany in 1645 and 1945. She has completed a
biographical work about a woman coming of age in Nazi Germany and is working on
a historical fiction trilogy featuring Adela of Normandy.
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Thank you for allowing me to talk about so many things dear to my heart.
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure. Inquiring minds love little known facts.
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