Why a Booktrail?
Destination: Transylvania, Hungary Departure Time: 1997
Tilda in post communist Romania is a dangerous place to be – and a dangerous place to return to
Bread for the Bourgeoisie
What you need to know before your trail
Marianna Ursu has always been a fighter. She’s had to be, living in small, corrupt Transylvanian town, Tilda in post communist Romania. BHer father, now dead, was once a dissident and Marianna has been left living in his shadow. One day she receives a smuggled letter from her sister Anka in London, who has found herself trapped in a world of poverty and sex. Marianna is desperate to help her and so she sets off to London to see what she can do.
She soon gets involved more than she should and although she infiltrates the world of the sex traffickers that might have her sister, she finds out that Anka is believed to be dead. Fearing for her life, she tries to escape but in the ensuing drama, kills of the notorious Voin brothers. Now, there are people who want Marianna dead.
Back home in Tilda however things are also taking a dramatic turn and Marianna must decide if to go back or stay and look for her sister. Meanwhile the traffickers are not far behind and there is danger everywhere. Tilda is on the brink of collapse and Marianna’s future and that of those she loves is not certain at all.
Locations
ResetTravel Guide
The author says: “I lived in Romania in the late 1990’s and witnessed a lot of fascinating things about this post-communist country and its people. Because of the crumbling national infrastructure, many young people were making the illegal passage to the west to find work. Of course, some of the young women found themselves trapped in the sex trade. The book follows the story of Marianna Ursu, the eldest daughter of a dead dissident- Emil Ursu and one of the instigators of the riots in 1989, which brought about the downfall of Ceausescu. Marianna receives a smuggled letter from her sister, Anka who is trapped in the sex trade in London. Desperate to bring her sister home, Marianna makes the treacherous and illegal journey to the west where she faces the brutality of this underworld. This is a story of survival, the bond of family ties and the lengths that people will go to protect them.
Romania is a country of wonderful landscapes, and the journeys in the book cross Europe, from Belgium through to Hungary and on to in Romania. The larger part of the book takes place in Transylvania in Romania in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains.”
Streetview Maps
A) Romania - Tilda (Târnava Mică)
E) Hungary - Szolok
Booktrailer Review
Clare:
I found this a really interesting and pacey read. The background to the whole story was a lot more darker and serious than I first thought but then this was a real part of history and it shocked me how little I knew of the countries concerned.
Don’t think it gets to bogged down in the heavy stuff, it doesn’t, but if you think about this time and place as well as the thriller element of the story, it really does add to your overall experience of the novel.
Mariana had quite the fight on her hands and I wonder how many women like her in these situations had similar challenges. How could she cope not knowing her sister was safe and then her daughter? In a post communist society, no one is sure what it means to toe the line, who is really in control and who the criminals really are.
I have to admit that I like most people probably looked at Transylvania through the eyes of Dracula, but this opened my eyes to a period of history and a new setting for a great thriller that I am really pleased to have visited.
A lot of what was in this thriller was new to me and a new literary landscape!
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