Caravans in the Dark

A Novel

by B. K. Oldre

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Pub Date Jun 06 2023 | Archive Date Jun 30 2023

Historical Fiction

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Description

Fifteen-year-old Jana’s Romani family leads a nomadic life, traveling and trading horses, in Czechoslovakia. When her family relocates to Prague one step ahead of the Nazi invasion, Jana becomes a freedom fighter. She gets a job in the Prague castle, where secret messages are hidden inside of clocks and she must smuggle them out of the castle and pass them on to the Resistance.

After the Nazis close all Czech colleges and universities, Jana and two of her peers—her Resistance contact, Otto, who was the first in his family to attend college, and a fellow student, Albert—are even more determined to free their country from the Nazi oppressors. All three will face danger and desperate choices as they learn that this fight will cost them more than they ever imagined.

In this coming-of-age story set in extraordinary times, Jana and her friends strive to find love and their place in the world—even as they fight the Nazi occupation of their country.

A Note From the Publisher

B.K. Oldre is a former librarian with a B.A. in English Literature from the University of Minnesota and an M.L.I.S. degree. She studied writing at the Loft Literary Center and the University of Minnesota. While researching her Czech ancestry, she became fascinated with the history of that country, particularly during WWII. She writes short stories, historical fiction, and historical mysteries. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota with her husband. She writes mysteries as Bonnie Oldre.

B.K. Oldre is a former librarian with a B.A. in English Literature from the University of Minnesota and an M.L.I.S. degree. She studied writing at the Loft Literary Center and the University of...

Advance Praise

“‘Caravans in the Dark’ is everything historical fiction ought to be. At once fascinating in its period detail, epic in scope, and impossibly rich, it not only brings the past to resplendent light, but also illuminates the foibles of our contemporary moment. On top of all this, it’s a novel fairly bursting with characters to fall in love with. What an accomplishment from a writer who can seemingly do it all.” —Peter Geye, author of “The Ski Jumpers”

“By creating an unlikely heroine B.K. Oldre captures the centuries-old persecution and suffering of the Romani people that culminated in Porajmos, the genocide committed against the Roma during WWII. Jana encapsulates crucial elements of the recurring prejudice against the Roma, and at the same time illuminates a reality in which Roma cease to be nonhuman.” —Habiba Hadziavdic, author of “Antigypsims and Film”

“B.K. Oldre’s ‘Caravans in the Dark’ captures a not-often-told World War II story—that of the persecution of the Romani people in Czechoslovakia. Deeply researched and tenderly rendered, the novel paints a portrait of a Romani family leaving their nomadic life to settle in Prague ahead of the Nazi invasion. Through its fifteen-year-old heroine, Jana, we confront her coming of age struggles and desires, set against the day-to-day darkness of war and the small acts of grace. Readers of historical fiction and those interested in WWII stories will find much to admire.” —Linda Kass, author of “Tasa’s Song” and “A Ritchie Boy”