In the 1930s, Stalin’s activists marched through the Soviet Union, espousing the greatness of collective farming. It was the first step in creating a man-made famine that, in Ukraine, stole almost 4 million lives. Inspired by the history the world forgot, and the Russian government denies, Erin Litteken reimagines their story.

In 1929, Katya is 16 years old, surrounded by family and in love with the boy next door. When Stalin’s activists arrive in her village, it’s just a few, a little pressure to join the collective. But soon neighbors disappear, those who speak out are never seen again and every new day is uncertain.

Resistance has a price, and as desperate hunger grips the countryside, survival seems more a dream than a possibility. But, even in the darkest times, love beckons.

Seventy years later, a young widow discovers her grandmother’s journal, one that will reveal the long-buried secrets of her family’s haunted past.

This is a story of the resilience of the human spirit, the love that sees us through our darkest hours and the true horror of what happened during the Holodomor.

May we never forget, lest history repeat itself.

Erin Litteken holds a Bachelor's of History from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and is a member of the Women's Fiction Writer's Association and The Historical Novel Society. Inspired by the harrowing stories of her family’s escape from Ukraine in WW2, her current focus is on the devastating oppression that occurred in Eastern Europe in the 1930’s and 1940’s. She lives outside St. Louis with her husband, two children, and a random assortment of pets. When she's not writing, she loves curling up with a good book and spending time with her family.