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Smuggled
Sweeping from post–WWII rural Romania to the cosmopolitan Budapest of 1990, Christina Shea’s Smuggled is the story of Eva Farkas, who loses her identity, quite literally, as a young child when she is smuggled in a flour sack across the Hungarian border to escape the Nazis.
Five-year-old Eva is trafficked from Hungary to Romania at the end of the war, arriving in the fictional border town of Crisu, given the name Anca Balaj by her aunt and uncle and instructed never to speak another word of Hungarian again. “Eva is dead,� she is told. As the years pass, Anca proves an unquenchable spirit, with a lust for life even when political forces threaten to derail her at every turn. Time is layered in this quest for self, culminating in the end of the Iron Curtain and Anca’s reclaiming of the name her mother gave her. When Eva returns to Hungary in 1990, a country changing as fast as the price of bread, she meets Martin, an American teacher, and Eva’s lifelong search for family and identity comes full circle as her cross-cultural relationship with Martin deepens through their endeavor to rescue the boy downstairs from abuse.
An intimate look at the effects of history on an individual life, Smuggled is a raw and fearless account of transformation, and a viscerally reflective tale about the basic need for love without claims.
Five-year-old Eva is trafficked from Hungary to Romania at the end of the war, arriving in the fictional border town of Crisu, given the name Anca Balaj by her aunt and uncle and instructed never to speak another word of Hungarian again. “Eva is dead,� she is told. As the years pass, Anca proves an unquenchable spirit, with a lust for life even when political forces threaten to derail her at every turn. Time is layered in this quest for self, culminating in the end of the Iron Curtain and Anca’s reclaiming of the name her mother gave her. When Eva returns to Hungary in 1990, a country changing as fast as the price of bread, she meets Martin, an American teacher, and Eva’s lifelong search for family and identity comes full circle as her cross-cultural relationship with Martin deepens through their endeavor to rescue the boy downstairs from abuse.
An intimate look at the effects of history on an individual life, Smuggled is a raw and fearless account of transformation, and a viscerally reflective tale about the basic need for love without claims.
294 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
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Christina Shea
10Ìýbooks25ÌýfollowersI'm a teacher and the mother of three boys, but really I'm a writer!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
April 4, 2011
NO SPOILERS!!!
Last night I finished the book. For me it is a four star book. Now you know I do not give a plot synopsis of a book. If you want that, please read the book description. I try and explain why I like a book or dislike it, if that should be the case. I do this because people seek different things from books. I try and explain what the given book gave me. Through the details I give, I am hoping you can judge if the book is one you wish to read. There is no book that fits everybody! What I dislike in a book may be exactly what another reader is looking for. When I read a review I want to know why they liked the book or why they didn't like the book. I want the specifics. In my reviews I try and give you what I seek when I read a review. I make the assumption you want what I want! What else can I go by?!
What I liked about this book was, number one, the dialogue. It made me laugh and chuckle. Secondly, I thought that Anca/Eva, the main character, was very well portrayed. When she is young you felt she was young, in the way she behaved and in the things she said. As she aged, you felt that too. She aged, and yet her inner character reamined constant. You knew this was the same person, just a bit older, more experienced, more battered by life. Thirdly, I liked learning the history of Romania and Hungary from the 40s through to 1990. Rather than just being given dry facts, you see how the events played out for different individuals. And we are talking about ordinary individuals. Then finally, even the ending was good. A central theme of the whole book is concerned with home. Where is home? Is it a place? If it is a place, is it where we live, or where we are born or what our identity papers say? Or is home something we find inside ourselves? Oh, another thing I liked was that love isn't given the stereotypical definition. Love has all different forms, and people can love different people at different times for differnt reasons. As you all know, I am very, very restrictive with my stars. 4 stars feels just right for this book. I hope I have given you enough information to help you decide if this book is one you want to read. This paragraph is just a summary on completion of the book. Please see below for more details and also excerpts, if writing style is as important to you as it is to me!
Having read 73%: I simply had to stop and exclaim - I like this book a lot! Primarily it is about the life of an illegal immigrant in Romania, but it has so much more. Yes, yes, Anca has the necessary papers, but her life trajectory still prevents her from pushing the limits too far. Don't expect a coddled lifestyle. You learn about life behind the Iron Curtain. You learn about how it felt when that barrier fell. You learn about life under Ceausescu. When Anca finally returns to Szeged, Hungary, in 1990, at the age of 50, you, the reader, are confronted with the wonder of a ripe banana or a strong plastic shopping bag stamped with the Coca-Cola insignia.
I stopped reading to throw out a quote. How would you feel if you rented an apartment and in your absence the landlady came in and rearranged your kitchen shelves, moved your drying dishcloth, folded your apron? Angry, just as you or I would be, Anca/Eva stamps up to the woman's apartment and explodes:
Mrs. Géza, I will set a trap for you, like for a rat.
I like the dialogue! And I am drawn by the book's philosophical question - where is a person's home? How do you define home?
Having read 35%: I am reading an egalley of . This is historical fiction. You learn about life in Hungary and Romania after WW2 through the experiences of one Hungarian child smuggled into Romania from Hungary. Portrayal of Anca, as she is called in Romania, is wonderful. The ability of the author to present her as a three year old and then later as an older child is remarkable. Often an author is unable to present a character well at different ages. Christina Shea has done this wonderfully. The main protagonist is born in 1940. The story will continue through to 1990. I think. There is humor. The characters and the narrative feel true to life. People are NOT stereotyped. They are real. They are a mixture of good and bad qualities. Oh, and there is a dog too. Even he behaves like a real dog would behave. He is called Carol after a former Romanian King. History is intertwined seamlessly with the story. And you see again and again how historical events have had a huge impact on the lives of common people, all the thousnads who have no role in the making of political decisions.
For those of you who, like me, need to taste a particular author's writing style, I will add an excerpt:
When he (Anca's Uncle) opened up the door, his face softened at the sight of her (Anca) and he swept her into an embrace. She could smell the liquor on him. "I am destitute over Carol!" he cried. The dog had died only the day before, although he had been sick for months apparently, a tumor. Anca had never seen Uncle cry, even when B- died. He was halway through a bottle of vodka, squeezing the tears out of his eyes and wiping his face with his sleeve, then tossing back the drink. He showed her out onto the balcony, where the dog lay in a cardboard box. He had wrapped Carol in a newly purchased bedsheet patterned with forget-me-nots.
This excerpt is thaken 32% of the way through the book and in the chapter dated 1957. I do not have a page number. What do you see? You see an elderly, struggling man with plenty of faults, but also a soul.
There is another point where Anca's Auntie says Anca will be mistaken for a gypsy. Heaven forbid, but gypsies were very much discriminated against in Romania in the 50s. Anca quips: "Gypsies don't carry tennis racquets around with them, Auntie." I like such humor. This is found just a little after the previous excerpt.
So yes, I am thoroughly enjoying myself! I believe the book will be published in July. This is the first egalley I have reviewed, and I am very happy to start with a good experience. There are punctuation and grammatical errors, but I have been told these would be taken care of before publication.
Last night I finished the book. For me it is a four star book. Now you know I do not give a plot synopsis of a book. If you want that, please read the book description. I try and explain why I like a book or dislike it, if that should be the case. I do this because people seek different things from books. I try and explain what the given book gave me. Through the details I give, I am hoping you can judge if the book is one you wish to read. There is no book that fits everybody! What I dislike in a book may be exactly what another reader is looking for. When I read a review I want to know why they liked the book or why they didn't like the book. I want the specifics. In my reviews I try and give you what I seek when I read a review. I make the assumption you want what I want! What else can I go by?!
What I liked about this book was, number one, the dialogue. It made me laugh and chuckle. Secondly, I thought that Anca/Eva, the main character, was very well portrayed. When she is young you felt she was young, in the way she behaved and in the things she said. As she aged, you felt that too. She aged, and yet her inner character reamined constant. You knew this was the same person, just a bit older, more experienced, more battered by life. Thirdly, I liked learning the history of Romania and Hungary from the 40s through to 1990. Rather than just being given dry facts, you see how the events played out for different individuals. And we are talking about ordinary individuals. Then finally, even the ending was good. A central theme of the whole book is concerned with home. Where is home? Is it a place? If it is a place, is it where we live, or where we are born or what our identity papers say? Or is home something we find inside ourselves? Oh, another thing I liked was that love isn't given the stereotypical definition. Love has all different forms, and people can love different people at different times for differnt reasons. As you all know, I am very, very restrictive with my stars. 4 stars feels just right for this book. I hope I have given you enough information to help you decide if this book is one you want to read. This paragraph is just a summary on completion of the book. Please see below for more details and also excerpts, if writing style is as important to you as it is to me!
Having read 73%: I simply had to stop and exclaim - I like this book a lot! Primarily it is about the life of an illegal immigrant in Romania, but it has so much more. Yes, yes, Anca has the necessary papers, but her life trajectory still prevents her from pushing the limits too far. Don't expect a coddled lifestyle. You learn about life behind the Iron Curtain. You learn about how it felt when that barrier fell. You learn about life under Ceausescu. When Anca finally returns to Szeged, Hungary, in 1990, at the age of 50, you, the reader, are confronted with the wonder of a ripe banana or a strong plastic shopping bag stamped with the Coca-Cola insignia.
I stopped reading to throw out a quote. How would you feel if you rented an apartment and in your absence the landlady came in and rearranged your kitchen shelves, moved your drying dishcloth, folded your apron? Angry, just as you or I would be, Anca/Eva stamps up to the woman's apartment and explodes:
Mrs. Géza, I will set a trap for you, like for a rat.
I like the dialogue! And I am drawn by the book's philosophical question - where is a person's home? How do you define home?
Having read 35%: I am reading an egalley of . This is historical fiction. You learn about life in Hungary and Romania after WW2 through the experiences of one Hungarian child smuggled into Romania from Hungary. Portrayal of Anca, as she is called in Romania, is wonderful. The ability of the author to present her as a three year old and then later as an older child is remarkable. Often an author is unable to present a character well at different ages. Christina Shea has done this wonderfully. The main protagonist is born in 1940. The story will continue through to 1990. I think. There is humor. The characters and the narrative feel true to life. People are NOT stereotyped. They are real. They are a mixture of good and bad qualities. Oh, and there is a dog too. Even he behaves like a real dog would behave. He is called Carol after a former Romanian King. History is intertwined seamlessly with the story. And you see again and again how historical events have had a huge impact on the lives of common people, all the thousnads who have no role in the making of political decisions.
For those of you who, like me, need to taste a particular author's writing style, I will add an excerpt:
When he (Anca's Uncle) opened up the door, his face softened at the sight of her (Anca) and he swept her into an embrace. She could smell the liquor on him. "I am destitute over Carol!" he cried. The dog had died only the day before, although he had been sick for months apparently, a tumor. Anca had never seen Uncle cry, even when B- died. He was halway through a bottle of vodka, squeezing the tears out of his eyes and wiping his face with his sleeve, then tossing back the drink. He showed her out onto the balcony, where the dog lay in a cardboard box. He had wrapped Carol in a newly purchased bedsheet patterned with forget-me-nots.
This excerpt is thaken 32% of the way through the book and in the chapter dated 1957. I do not have a page number. What do you see? You see an elderly, struggling man with plenty of faults, but also a soul.
There is another point where Anca's Auntie says Anca will be mistaken for a gypsy. Heaven forbid, but gypsies were very much discriminated against in Romania in the 50s. Anca quips: "Gypsies don't carry tennis racquets around with them, Auntie." I like such humor. This is found just a little after the previous excerpt.
So yes, I am thoroughly enjoying myself! I believe the book will be published in July. This is the first egalley I have reviewed, and I am very happy to start with a good experience. There are punctuation and grammatical errors, but I have been told these would be taken care of before publication.
March 25, 2017
There is something very clever about the way Christina Shea wrote this book. Upon reflection I realized that Shea had managed to take what would have been a con and turned it into a pro.
This is a very tough book as it deals with a topic and goes down a very different path that most authors avoid. Yet, in doing so she was able to create a dynamic portrayal of human emotion. The MC in this book, Anca, was probably one of the most realistic characters I have ever read about. This books actually comes with reading questions and I strongly recommend reading them and thinking about it as it helps immensely when trying to understand what this books is trying to communicate.
The entire theme of this book is what the title dictates, smuggled. It deals with oppression, suppression, and repression. The whole concept of the human being, the soul, the nation being smuggled down to nothing.
What is the first thing that pops up in your head when you hear the word Romania? What about Hungary? How much do you really know about the two countries, about the people and history?
Oppression
Eva Farkas is a young, half Jewish girl who is smuggled out of Hungary in the coming of the Nazis to her aunt in Romania. Young Eva knows not what is going on and has a a fiery temperament. She hates being told what to do and needs to always keep her mind occupied by something as it is prone to idleness and boredom. Living in squander conditions dedicate to the Jewish community with only her atheist mother who has been scorned by the community for having an affair with her boss (someone who is not Jewish), Eva lives life with relative ease and ignorance. Her father who still loves her mother comes and visits when he can yet each visit makes him hate society even more. There is a hush atmosphere in this first part yet the reader knows that the Nazi's are going to arrive. A few days before is smuggled out she witnesses a horrific event that scares her and damages her hand.
Arriving drugged to her aunt (father's sister) she is quickly and quietly slipped into the house. She is no more Eva Farkas, she is Anca.
In the entire book, you never partake in the direct events yet you hear and see the affects on the average person. Here you can tell the effect the change in government is having on Eva. She can no longer acknowledge who she is. She must slip out unnoticed and upon arriving in Romania, she must prevent her past from slipping out. Eva's natural nature of rebelling must now change if she is to survive, and her aunt's determination turns Eva into Anca and it doesn't take too long. After her ordeal and being separated from her mother, Eva becomes forlorn. Combined with the desolate state in Romania, invisibility is an easy mask to slip on and Eva Farkas becomes Anca. A small pitiful orphan who has a "broken" hand that she was born with.
Suppression
Communism has swept into Romania. At school, at home, among neighbours and family.
Anca attends mandatory school programs that enforce the spirit of communism amongst peers.
She gets on well with her aunt and uncle and the general community. Nobody really bugs or is aware of her hand. On the surface, life seems easy. Yet, religious leaders are being arrested. People don't go out after certain hours. Food is smuggled into the country. People don't talk to each other. People die (of natural causes) and no one seems to care. Everyone avoids the police. People's life savings have been snatched and replaced with a set sum that goes to everyone. People are told exactly how to do their job and how much they should work in a day. Jews and Gypsies live in small communities but are scorned. And herbal medicine has been replaced by cheaper pills.
Anca is a quiet person who is athletic and has developed an interest in medicine. She becomes friends with a pharmacist and life seems okay, until an incident occurs. One that shatters Anca's family and pushes her to leave and attend University.
From university to her first job as a professor Anca witnesses the harrowing effects communism has on the people. She sees the double nature people wear as a means to live and protect themselves. Starvation and desolation are everyday bread and butter. No one speaks out. No one speaks up. It is also here where Anca remembers Eva and reconnects with Eva's childhood friend. It is here where she marries and settles down. Life again seems ok but Anca is remote. Again, certain incidents occur and Anca finds herself in a vast array of positions and jobs. Surrounded by all types of people and abused by most.
Repression
Anca doesn't know who she is. She does as she is told yet never bonds with anyone. All her life she has just been abused and she is now aware of how to get what she needs and does so with no hesitation. Anca, now 50, rediscovers Eva and leaves Romania for Hungary. Yet did life change? Is it too late for her to be what she might have been?
If you've made it this far into the review, congrats! Do you see the point now?
The entire book is about life under communism. Eva rejects who she is even when she is encouraged to embrace it. The affects of communism have set in. Don't stand out. Don't call attention to yourself. Go with the flow. Make no friends as you never know who will betray you. Hush. Hush. Hush.
Make your existence invisible and you will survive.
Make yourself flexible, don't be stubborn.
Even the way the book is written. Simple, to the point. No creativity nor imagination points to the blandness communism makes on the human spirit. Polished on the outside, empty within. Just a husk.
Any time Anca takes a stand she is abused. No one helps her. No one cares. Each time Anca gets hurt, Eva is scorned.
It's a very deep read and I really liked it.
There were 2 issues that I has with this book.
1. Eva's deformity becomes miraculously healed. Her deformity plays a more thematic role yet it bugged me as deformity's of any type shouldn't be used as a plot/theme device .
2. It plays with the "American comes to save the day" trope. It's annoying. Stop doing that. I felt it would have made a bigger impact if Eva met someone from Hungary/Romania rather then America.
This is a very tough book as it deals with a topic and goes down a very different path that most authors avoid. Yet, in doing so she was able to create a dynamic portrayal of human emotion. The MC in this book, Anca, was probably one of the most realistic characters I have ever read about. This books actually comes with reading questions and I strongly recommend reading them and thinking about it as it helps immensely when trying to understand what this books is trying to communicate.
The entire theme of this book is what the title dictates, smuggled. It deals with oppression, suppression, and repression. The whole concept of the human being, the soul, the nation being smuggled down to nothing.
What is the first thing that pops up in your head when you hear the word Romania? What about Hungary? How much do you really know about the two countries, about the people and history?
Oppression
Eva Farkas is a young, half Jewish girl who is smuggled out of Hungary in the coming of the Nazis to her aunt in Romania. Young Eva knows not what is going on and has a a fiery temperament. She hates being told what to do and needs to always keep her mind occupied by something as it is prone to idleness and boredom. Living in squander conditions dedicate to the Jewish community with only her atheist mother who has been scorned by the community for having an affair with her boss (someone who is not Jewish), Eva lives life with relative ease and ignorance. Her father who still loves her mother comes and visits when he can yet each visit makes him hate society even more. There is a hush atmosphere in this first part yet the reader knows that the Nazi's are going to arrive. A few days before is smuggled out she witnesses a horrific event that scares her and damages her hand.
Arriving drugged to her aunt (father's sister) she is quickly and quietly slipped into the house. She is no more Eva Farkas, she is Anca.
In the entire book, you never partake in the direct events yet you hear and see the affects on the average person. Here you can tell the effect the change in government is having on Eva. She can no longer acknowledge who she is. She must slip out unnoticed and upon arriving in Romania, she must prevent her past from slipping out. Eva's natural nature of rebelling must now change if she is to survive, and her aunt's determination turns Eva into Anca and it doesn't take too long. After her ordeal and being separated from her mother, Eva becomes forlorn. Combined with the desolate state in Romania, invisibility is an easy mask to slip on and Eva Farkas becomes Anca. A small pitiful orphan who has a "broken" hand that she was born with.
Suppression
Communism has swept into Romania. At school, at home, among neighbours and family.
Anca attends mandatory school programs that enforce the spirit of communism amongst peers.
She gets on well with her aunt and uncle and the general community. Nobody really bugs or is aware of her hand. On the surface, life seems easy. Yet, religious leaders are being arrested. People don't go out after certain hours. Food is smuggled into the country. People don't talk to each other. People die (of natural causes) and no one seems to care. Everyone avoids the police. People's life savings have been snatched and replaced with a set sum that goes to everyone. People are told exactly how to do their job and how much they should work in a day. Jews and Gypsies live in small communities but are scorned. And herbal medicine has been replaced by cheaper pills.
Anca is a quiet person who is athletic and has developed an interest in medicine. She becomes friends with a pharmacist and life seems okay, until an incident occurs. One that shatters Anca's family and pushes her to leave and attend University.
From university to her first job as a professor Anca witnesses the harrowing effects communism has on the people. She sees the double nature people wear as a means to live and protect themselves. Starvation and desolation are everyday bread and butter. No one speaks out. No one speaks up. It is also here where Anca remembers Eva and reconnects with Eva's childhood friend. It is here where she marries and settles down. Life again seems ok but Anca is remote. Again, certain incidents occur and Anca finds herself in a vast array of positions and jobs. Surrounded by all types of people and abused by most.
Repression
Anca doesn't know who she is. She does as she is told yet never bonds with anyone. All her life she has just been abused and she is now aware of how to get what she needs and does so with no hesitation. Anca, now 50, rediscovers Eva and leaves Romania for Hungary. Yet did life change? Is it too late for her to be what she might have been?
If you've made it this far into the review, congrats! Do you see the point now?
The entire book is about life under communism. Eva rejects who she is even when she is encouraged to embrace it. The affects of communism have set in. Don't stand out. Don't call attention to yourself. Go with the flow. Make no friends as you never know who will betray you. Hush. Hush. Hush.
Make your existence invisible and you will survive.
Make yourself flexible, don't be stubborn.
Even the way the book is written. Simple, to the point. No creativity nor imagination points to the blandness communism makes on the human spirit. Polished on the outside, empty within. Just a husk.
Any time Anca takes a stand she is abused. No one helps her. No one cares. Each time Anca gets hurt, Eva is scorned.
It's a very deep read and I really liked it.
There were 2 issues that I has with this book.
1. Eva's deformity becomes miraculously healed. Her deformity plays a more thematic role yet it bugged me as deformity's of any type shouldn't be used as a plot/theme device .
2. It plays with the "American comes to save the day" trope. It's annoying. Stop doing that. I felt it would have made a bigger impact if Eva met someone from Hungary/Romania rather then America.
December 1, 2011
Left-handedness.
Had she been an intellectual, she would not have survived her own interrogation. p. 125
It was the clearest mark of their isolation when there was nothing to translate. p. 193
Each chapter in this book, in this character's life, could be an entire novel in itself. But you don't feel cheated by any brevity or shortchanging of details. This is a thorough, complete story--but not long-winded--of one woman's experiences as a Jewish refugee from Hungary smuggled into Romania as a child and what it was like growing up in that Communist country.
If this is subject matter that you read about often, it'll seem familiar at first, but this book does have its surprises and it's an interesting story. It covers a lot of ground. And Anca/Éva is an unusual character. If this is your thing (and it is mine), you'll really like this (and I did). It gets better and better.
Hungarians complain but shopping is not the chore it was in Romania. p. 239 (the difference and how she finds her way in a new place just as that new place is finding its own way--so hers is a double re-birth in a way; she's in a new country and she's in a NEW country)
My favorite chapter is 1954, the one with Miss Pharmacist.
"Mary Shelley?" He eyes her. "It's not exactly Frankenstein from the movies."
She clutches the paperback. "I don't know the movie," she replies. She feels flushed, looking up from the page. "It was a long time ago when I read it the first time. In Romania, another life!" He smiles at her. He can have no idea of it and that's his privilege.
"If you were ambidextrous, you could survive life during Communism." p. 271
Old Hungarian saying: Old hen and young carrot make good soup. p. 271
"Fantastikus!" Levente cries.
Had she been an intellectual, she would not have survived her own interrogation. p. 125
It was the clearest mark of their isolation when there was nothing to translate. p. 193
Each chapter in this book, in this character's life, could be an entire novel in itself. But you don't feel cheated by any brevity or shortchanging of details. This is a thorough, complete story--but not long-winded--of one woman's experiences as a Jewish refugee from Hungary smuggled into Romania as a child and what it was like growing up in that Communist country.
If this is subject matter that you read about often, it'll seem familiar at first, but this book does have its surprises and it's an interesting story. It covers a lot of ground. And Anca/Éva is an unusual character. If this is your thing (and it is mine), you'll really like this (and I did). It gets better and better.
Hungarians complain but shopping is not the chore it was in Romania. p. 239 (the difference and how she finds her way in a new place just as that new place is finding its own way--so hers is a double re-birth in a way; she's in a new country and she's in a NEW country)
My favorite chapter is 1954, the one with Miss Pharmacist.
"Mary Shelley?" He eyes her. "It's not exactly Frankenstein from the movies."
She clutches the paperback. "I don't know the movie," she replies. She feels flushed, looking up from the page. "It was a long time ago when I read it the first time. In Romania, another life!" He smiles at her. He can have no idea of it and that's his privilege.
"If you were ambidextrous, you could survive life during Communism." p. 271
Old Hungarian saying: Old hen and young carrot make good soup. p. 271
"Fantastikus!" Levente cries.
July 3, 2011
Grove/Atlantic, Inc. has been extremely gracious to allow me to read an ARC of this novel, via Netgalley, prior to its release today, and I am very sorry to say that I didn’t like this book. The writing style and the storyline just is not for me. The premise for the novel peaked my interest, but overall I found that the pacing of the story wasn’t to my liking. In my opinion, the novel has a tendency to gloss over events I deem important, while prolonging the events that are more miniscule. I also am not a fan of explicit sex scenes, and while I wouldn’t classify the scenes in this novel as “explicit,� they do happen more often than not, and I personally found that this took away from the story...
To read my full review (7/5):
To read my full review (7/5):
April 21, 2015
"...From the bottom of the sack she looked up at her mother's face, a grave moon. Mama! But she shouldn't speak or cry out. She must hide herself. She carefully pulled her broken hand out of its sleeve, nestling it inside the coat..." (4)
Smuggled (July 2011) chronicles a remarkably well-written narrative of one young girl, whose cherished and privileged life in 1943 Budapest, Hungary is hastily transformed to an often bleak and seemingly forsaken ordinary village life in "Crisu", Romania. Beloved, cosseted five-year-old Eva, daughter of Eszter Farkas (Jewish) and Gyorgy Toth (Catholic), puzzles over what possible personal transgression cast her from the loving arms of her mother to the dubiously undemonstrative household of her Auntie Kati and Uncle Illie, no longer Eva, but Anca Balaj. Even if Auntie Kati thought in Crisu it would bode well for an unanticipated child in their household to have such a deformity, Eva personally speculates that her physically deformed right hand, now almost useless, became too repugnant and appalling for Mama to bear.
Initially, Anca ostensibly conceals her cherished Hungarian memories by submitting to Auntie's daily demands to learn the Romanian language and performing the onerous chores expected of her. Eventually, she is accepted within this enigmatic household and village.
As Anca consistently reveals her headstrong resilience in her academic and personal life, political regimes and views spasmodically change and advance. A modernized Europe emerges and Anca prepares for its inevitable challenges. Anxious to return to her rightful birthplace, Anca searches not only for Eva, but also to reclaim her personal identity, lost by a loving mother's courageous foresight to save her only child.
To reveal Eva's innumerable passages through her often perilous, yet adventurous, milestones from the tender age of five to the wise fifty-year-old woman whose steadfast journey offers much to appreciate would be a disservice to any serious reader unfortunate enough to discard genuinely intimate glimpses of an intensely admirable life lived between a child's memory and a woman's struggle to reconcile how fate so easily alters one's future. Eva endures and survives, finds love and returns it. Just as Mama ensured her own safety, Eva rescues another child.
Christina Shea does not disappoint. Her unpretentious narrative enlightens and envelopes the reader with colorful witticisms to compensate for the inevitability of painful passages. Without a doubt, she is an author to remember and to watch.
.
Smuggled (July 2011) chronicles a remarkably well-written narrative of one young girl, whose cherished and privileged life in 1943 Budapest, Hungary is hastily transformed to an often bleak and seemingly forsaken ordinary village life in "Crisu", Romania. Beloved, cosseted five-year-old Eva, daughter of Eszter Farkas (Jewish) and Gyorgy Toth (Catholic), puzzles over what possible personal transgression cast her from the loving arms of her mother to the dubiously undemonstrative household of her Auntie Kati and Uncle Illie, no longer Eva, but Anca Balaj. Even if Auntie Kati thought in Crisu it would bode well for an unanticipated child in their household to have such a deformity, Eva personally speculates that her physically deformed right hand, now almost useless, became too repugnant and appalling for Mama to bear.
Initially, Anca ostensibly conceals her cherished Hungarian memories by submitting to Auntie's daily demands to learn the Romanian language and performing the onerous chores expected of her. Eventually, she is accepted within this enigmatic household and village.
As Anca consistently reveals her headstrong resilience in her academic and personal life, political regimes and views spasmodically change and advance. A modernized Europe emerges and Anca prepares for its inevitable challenges. Anxious to return to her rightful birthplace, Anca searches not only for Eva, but also to reclaim her personal identity, lost by a loving mother's courageous foresight to save her only child.
To reveal Eva's innumerable passages through her often perilous, yet adventurous, milestones from the tender age of five to the wise fifty-year-old woman whose steadfast journey offers much to appreciate would be a disservice to any serious reader unfortunate enough to discard genuinely intimate glimpses of an intensely admirable life lived between a child's memory and a woman's struggle to reconcile how fate so easily alters one's future. Eva endures and survives, finds love and returns it. Just as Mama ensured her own safety, Eva rescues another child.
Christina Shea does not disappoint. Her unpretentious narrative enlightens and envelopes the reader with colorful witticisms to compensate for the inevitability of painful passages. Without a doubt, she is an author to remember and to watch.
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April 22, 2011
I have been reviewing a lot of YA titles recently and momentarily forgot that this title was in the genre of adult fiction. It was in the back of my head, but due to mass quantities of YA, it slipped my mind, until I got to a sex scene. Then all I could think about was how inappropriate that specific scene was for a YA title. Which, of course, Smuggled is not. Clearly, I read analytically.
I do have mixed feelings about the novel itself. I liked the novel but there were certain aspects of the novel that I found a bit distracting and that I felt took away from the novel. The storyline is great and the characters are very engaging. The only thing that I disliked about the novel was the pacing.
The pacing of the novel changes drastically in it's duration. Events that take place over several years sometimes take place in a few paragraphs, the progression of an illness to a death takes a few sentences. Conversely, events that take place over a few weeks go on for chapters. The pacing isn't sporadic throughout the entire novel, but the instances where it was, I found distracting.
I loved the characters though. They were so complex. You could really see the progression of each character over the sixty years that the novel covers. What I found interesting was that with each characters personal growth, some characters that I loved in the beginning of the novel I grew to dislike and some of the characters that I weren't sure about, I loved near the end. There were a few minor characters that did reappear later in the novel I would have liked to have known more about. Particularly, the gypsy boy.
I am a huge fan of historical fiction and this novel did not disappoint. It's a fresh take on the WWII/Holocaust unlike anything I have read before. Very little mention is made of the camps directly, it focuses more on the refugees and the "true citizens" who were little more than political pawns.There are numerous sex scenes, which upon first reading the novel, I thought some of them seemed gratuitous. Much upon further reflection, I realized that they were not gratuitous; in a way they seem more of a metaphor for the politics in both Romania and Hungary during this era.
I really did like the novel, and eventually even adjusted to the sporadic pacing. I am still thinking about this novel, and still absorbing it several days after reading it. I would love to read more titles by this author for sure, as well as eventually reread this title.
I do have mixed feelings about the novel itself. I liked the novel but there were certain aspects of the novel that I found a bit distracting and that I felt took away from the novel. The storyline is great and the characters are very engaging. The only thing that I disliked about the novel was the pacing.
The pacing of the novel changes drastically in it's duration. Events that take place over several years sometimes take place in a few paragraphs, the progression of an illness to a death takes a few sentences. Conversely, events that take place over a few weeks go on for chapters. The pacing isn't sporadic throughout the entire novel, but the instances where it was, I found distracting.
I loved the characters though. They were so complex. You could really see the progression of each character over the sixty years that the novel covers. What I found interesting was that with each characters personal growth, some characters that I loved in the beginning of the novel I grew to dislike and some of the characters that I weren't sure about, I loved near the end. There were a few minor characters that did reappear later in the novel I would have liked to have known more about. Particularly, the gypsy boy.
I am a huge fan of historical fiction and this novel did not disappoint. It's a fresh take on the WWII/Holocaust unlike anything I have read before. Very little mention is made of the camps directly, it focuses more on the refugees and the "true citizens" who were little more than political pawns.There are numerous sex scenes, which upon first reading the novel, I thought some of them seemed gratuitous. Much upon further reflection, I realized that they were not gratuitous; in a way they seem more of a metaphor for the politics in both Romania and Hungary during this era.
I really did like the novel, and eventually even adjusted to the sporadic pacing. I am still thinking about this novel, and still absorbing it several days after reading it. I would love to read more titles by this author for sure, as well as eventually reread this title.
May 3, 2011
Smuggled is a beautiful, inspiring novel set predominantly in post-WWII Romania and Hungary. It tells the story of Eva Farkas, who is smuggled out of Hungary and away from the Nazis as a five-year-old during WWII. Across the border in rural Romania she is renamed Anca Balaj and raised by her Uncle and Aunt. After spending most of her life as Romanian Anca, she eventually returns to Hungary after the fall of the Soviet Union to reclaim her identity as Eva.
Forced to hide Eva Farkas for almost half a century, Anca Balaj becomes a survivor: She survives the war, the Nazis and the Communists who took her family, and a string of interesting, greedy men, who are for Anca simply a means to an end. As the pages of history turn, Anca's circumstances rob her of the chance to find lasting happiness: Fleeting moments of joy seemingly always end in tragedy. She lives in the moment, taking each day as it comes, yet despite this she is never selfish or cruel. Anca is admirable in the face of adversity, consistently showing compassion and kindness.
It is when she returns to Hungary in her middle age as Eva Farkas that her life is transformed. No longer relying on others for her survival, Eva's fear of having lived her life as a hidden Jew with fake Romanian papers finally subsides, and she is free to face the new world with hope. Eva is not Anca: Eva is a Jew and proclaims it. Eva is Hungarian by birth and admits it. Eva is proud of her heritage and her history, and through this recognition she is finally able to leave Anca behind and move forward in true love and happiness.
**Received as an ARC through NetGalley. Many thanks to the author and the publisher for allowing me to read and review this novel: It is a wonderfully heart-warming story.
Forced to hide Eva Farkas for almost half a century, Anca Balaj becomes a survivor: She survives the war, the Nazis and the Communists who took her family, and a string of interesting, greedy men, who are for Anca simply a means to an end. As the pages of history turn, Anca's circumstances rob her of the chance to find lasting happiness: Fleeting moments of joy seemingly always end in tragedy. She lives in the moment, taking each day as it comes, yet despite this she is never selfish or cruel. Anca is admirable in the face of adversity, consistently showing compassion and kindness.
It is when she returns to Hungary in her middle age as Eva Farkas that her life is transformed. No longer relying on others for her survival, Eva's fear of having lived her life as a hidden Jew with fake Romanian papers finally subsides, and she is free to face the new world with hope. Eva is not Anca: Eva is a Jew and proclaims it. Eva is Hungarian by birth and admits it. Eva is proud of her heritage and her history, and through this recognition she is finally able to leave Anca behind and move forward in true love and happiness.
**Received as an ARC through NetGalley. Many thanks to the author and the publisher for allowing me to read and review this novel: It is a wonderfully heart-warming story.
April 6, 2011
I’ve always enjoyed historical drama novels, but for some reason the presence of this genre in my own book collection is scarce. Christina Shea‘s ‘Smuggled� has ignited my curiosity with books themed around World War II and the Holocaust, and I will definitely be reading more.
‘Smuggled� had me riveted from the very beginning. The author did a wonderful job instantly engaging the reader with a heart wrenching opening scene—the smuggling of five year old Eva Frakas into Romania. Now, living with her Aunt and Uncle Eva is forced to give up her Hungarian roots and given the name Anca Balaj.
Being too young to have experienced a World War, I was fascinated to read what the world was like during World War II. Today we take so much for granted it’s almost hard to imagine a time when bananas were considered an exotic fruit, bribery became its own currency, or a government could take your home out from under you. It was fascinating to read about the length humans will go to for their own survival and the survival of their loved ones. Shea did a great job bringing all these elements together to give the reader a complete account of what life was like during this time.
I also thoroughly enjoyed how ‘Smuggled� spanned over half a century. It was interesting to read and watch Anca’s character develop from her life’s experiences and see how those experiences influenced her adult decisions and ultimately her life’s path. She went from a feisty five year old, to a young woman wise beyond her years, with each page turn. The characters within ‘Smuggled� added and heightened the development of another, leaving the reader with a remarkable and thought provoking read, which I truly recommend to historical drama fans.
‘Smuggled� had me riveted from the very beginning. The author did a wonderful job instantly engaging the reader with a heart wrenching opening scene—the smuggling of five year old Eva Frakas into Romania. Now, living with her Aunt and Uncle Eva is forced to give up her Hungarian roots and given the name Anca Balaj.
Being too young to have experienced a World War, I was fascinated to read what the world was like during World War II. Today we take so much for granted it’s almost hard to imagine a time when bananas were considered an exotic fruit, bribery became its own currency, or a government could take your home out from under you. It was fascinating to read about the length humans will go to for their own survival and the survival of their loved ones. Shea did a great job bringing all these elements together to give the reader a complete account of what life was like during this time.
I also thoroughly enjoyed how ‘Smuggled� spanned over half a century. It was interesting to read and watch Anca’s character develop from her life’s experiences and see how those experiences influenced her adult decisions and ultimately her life’s path. She went from a feisty five year old, to a young woman wise beyond her years, with each page turn. The characters within ‘Smuggled� added and heightened the development of another, leaving the reader with a remarkable and thought provoking read, which I truly recommend to historical drama fans.
April 13, 2011
Eva Fakas is five years old when her parents smuggle her out of Hungary to live with her aunt and uncle in Romania. She is renamed Anca Balaj and must start life again. This her story as she grows up, eventually returning to Hungary and becoming Eva again.
This is a book about survival. It is a tragic look at life post-WWII in a country that was immensely impacted. Having no first-hand, and barely any second-hand experience with war, I found the descriptions depressing. I couldn't imagine living through it, and I marvel at everyone who did.
Eva/Anca was a strong woman who struggled to be herself in a life that was created. The descriptions of her life was a child were my favourite sections. They felt the most powerful and real. I found that as she aged, I became more and more removed from the story.
At one point, Eva/Anca remarked that she didn't really like her friend because he was a changeling, changing to survive whatever situation he found himself in. I found this hypocritical. Eva/Anca did the exact same thing everytime her situation changed; she adapted to survive in the least damaging way. I think it was at this point that I began to dislike Eva/Anca. By the end, I knew I didn't like her, but the story is so emotional and tragic, that I feel guilty for that. The story demands that I pity and like her, and I just don't.
This story is not for the faint of heart. Life in Hungary and Romania is hard and many unhappy events occur. I don't want to give examples because I don't want to give away anything that happens, but I will say that whenever someone could take advantage of a situation, it seemed like they did.
This is a book about survival. It is a tragic look at life post-WWII in a country that was immensely impacted. Having no first-hand, and barely any second-hand experience with war, I found the descriptions depressing. I couldn't imagine living through it, and I marvel at everyone who did.
Eva/Anca was a strong woman who struggled to be herself in a life that was created. The descriptions of her life was a child were my favourite sections. They felt the most powerful and real. I found that as she aged, I became more and more removed from the story.
At one point, Eva/Anca remarked that she didn't really like her friend because he was a changeling, changing to survive whatever situation he found himself in. I found this hypocritical. Eva/Anca did the exact same thing everytime her situation changed; she adapted to survive in the least damaging way. I think it was at this point that I began to dislike Eva/Anca. By the end, I knew I didn't like her, but the story is so emotional and tragic, that I feel guilty for that. The story demands that I pity and like her, and I just don't.
This story is not for the faint of heart. Life in Hungary and Romania is hard and many unhappy events occur. I don't want to give examples because I don't want to give away anything that happens, but I will say that whenever someone could take advantage of a situation, it seemed like they did.
September 22, 2011
It's very rare that you get to spend so much time with a character. We get to spend almost 50 years with Eva/Anca to see how she changes from the time. We get to see her as a young girl when she doesn't really understand what's going on when she is taken from her parents and her home in Hungary to go live with her aunt and uncle in Romania in order to escape the Holocaust. She has to take on a new identity and at such a young age, she almost forgets who she once was. After the war, Eva is suddenly reminded of her past when someone she once knew comes back in her life and could threaten to unravel her new persona and identity.
I love historical fictions about the WWII time period. This one covers that time period and beyond. The book also takes place in Romania and Hungary, two countries that I'm not particularly familiar with so it was cool to read about both places. Also, just having been in Ukraine, I've started being interested in countries that were in the Soviet Bloc the places Smuggled talked about were. I thought it was interesting to see what life was like in those countries, which were further away from Moscow and therefore seemed to have it a little bit better than Ukraine.
This book is pretty good. At one point though (and I don't want to give anything away), it got really, really depressing and hard to read. I understand that those times and the things that Eva was going through were not happy but it just seemed too much almost. I was happy when the book started picking back up.
Bottom line: If you're looking for a fresh WWII and beyond historical fiction, this is a great choice.
I love historical fictions about the WWII time period. This one covers that time period and beyond. The book also takes place in Romania and Hungary, two countries that I'm not particularly familiar with so it was cool to read about both places. Also, just having been in Ukraine, I've started being interested in countries that were in the Soviet Bloc the places Smuggled talked about were. I thought it was interesting to see what life was like in those countries, which were further away from Moscow and therefore seemed to have it a little bit better than Ukraine.
This book is pretty good. At one point though (and I don't want to give anything away), it got really, really depressing and hard to read. I understand that those times and the things that Eva was going through were not happy but it just seemed too much almost. I was happy when the book started picking back up.
Bottom line: If you're looking for a fresh WWII and beyond historical fiction, this is a great choice.
April 17, 2011
Eva is a young girl in Hungary during WWII. Her mother is a Jewish and her father is a poor man. They are afraid for her safety and send her off to stay with a relative in Romania. They drug her, put her in a flour sack, put her on a train and hope that the relatives find her on the other end of the line. The do and Eva's name is changed to Anca. Her Uncle obtains Romanian papers for her. As Anca grows she meets people that are trying to help her or are they only using her as a means to get what they want. This is a typical story about a young girl that is abused by the men in her life and despite that makes a life for herself. She is able to return home to Hungary, finds a loving man and enjoys life.
It has moments of suffrage, love, warmth, hate and betrayal. Give a picture of what young people went through as a result of living in the wrong place during a war.
It has moments of suffrage, love, warmth, hate and betrayal. Give a picture of what young people went through as a result of living in the wrong place during a war.
December 4, 2011
I won a free copy of this novel through first reads.
I have a definite interest in history and historical fiction. This was the first book I've read about life "behind the Iron Curtain". It was fascinating to see the effect of the war and communism upon the countries of Hungary and Romania. More importantly, this book wasn't about the political leaders of the countries, but normal everyday people.
Eva/Anca was an enjoyable character. She frustrated me sometimes with her thoughts or choices, but that only made her seem more real. I thought only seeing glimpses of her life at different times would make me feel like I was missing part of the story. Yet, this made Eva's story and character more complete. Kudos to the author, because not everyone can pull that off so successfully.
I have a definite interest in history and historical fiction. This was the first book I've read about life "behind the Iron Curtain". It was fascinating to see the effect of the war and communism upon the countries of Hungary and Romania. More importantly, this book wasn't about the political leaders of the countries, but normal everyday people.
Eva/Anca was an enjoyable character. She frustrated me sometimes with her thoughts or choices, but that only made her seem more real. I thought only seeing glimpses of her life at different times would make me feel like I was missing part of the story. Yet, this made Eva's story and character more complete. Kudos to the author, because not everyone can pull that off so successfully.
March 13, 2015
I received this ebook copy of Smuggled as a ARC from NetGalley and I am so glad that I decided to request it.
The story is gripping from start to finish with a wonderful array of colourful characters, all expertly portrayed against the landscapes of countries torn apart.
I was very interested to learn more about post-war life in some of the Eastern European states and it was a real eye-opener to think that events similar to those in the novel were happening at that time.
Shea's prose is engaging and full of wonderful description and real emotion and I found it hard to put the book down.
I can highly recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys a dramatic story full of emotion and grit.
The story is gripping from start to finish with a wonderful array of colourful characters, all expertly portrayed against the landscapes of countries torn apart.
I was very interested to learn more about post-war life in some of the Eastern European states and it was a real eye-opener to think that events similar to those in the novel were happening at that time.
Shea's prose is engaging and full of wonderful description and real emotion and I found it hard to put the book down.
I can highly recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys a dramatic story full of emotion and grit.
September 10, 2016
For something that I picked up almost by accident, nearly sent back to the library unread, picked it up, and stayed up way too late because I just couldn't stop reading. What is it about life, even the most miserable life, that compels us to keep going, to keep going with the lead character. Lets face it, WWII was a miserable time to be a Jew, it was a miserable time to be in Eastern Europe, yet it opens your eyes to how people had to live, the choices they had to make - betray or be betrayed. Smuggle or starve.... or worse.
June 28, 2011
read my review at
January 23, 2021
3.5 stars.
The cover synopsis said that the story was about a little girl smuggled from Hungary to Romania during WWII, her life in Romania on the Eastern side of the Iron Curtain, and how she ends up back in Hungary to find her roots. The book itself was broken into 3 parts as outlined above.
I'm always a fan of WWII historical fiction books and I was hopeful to gain more insight about Communist Romania under Ceausescu- an era that I've been wanting to learn more about. But I'm going to look for some other options as that section of the book was just so disappointing. It bounces forward through time 30 years in 100 pages by writing a chapter for each terrible event (and/or boyfriend) that happens to Anca every couple of years. This made the plot oddly go too quickly and not quickly enough at the same time.
The first section of the book felt like a nicely detailed coming-of-age story describing Eva/Anca's life from about age 5 to 20 and I was excited to continue the book in that vein. The third part of the book when she ended up back in Hungary was a little better than the second section but still was nowhere near as engrossing as the first part. The ending was also wrapped up a little too neatly and cutely and contrasted too much with the rest of the story.
And totally unrelated, I think the cover art is a really weird choice. Eva/Anca has so many awful things happen to her throughout the entire book- but none of them really fit the cover image. Even if that's supposed to be her mother it still doesn't look or feel right. I know not to judge a book by the cover but it really is just odd.
The cover synopsis said that the story was about a little girl smuggled from Hungary to Romania during WWII, her life in Romania on the Eastern side of the Iron Curtain, and how she ends up back in Hungary to find her roots. The book itself was broken into 3 parts as outlined above.
I'm always a fan of WWII historical fiction books and I was hopeful to gain more insight about Communist Romania under Ceausescu- an era that I've been wanting to learn more about. But I'm going to look for some other options as that section of the book was just so disappointing. It bounces forward through time 30 years in 100 pages by writing a chapter for each terrible event (and/or boyfriend) that happens to Anca every couple of years. This made the plot oddly go too quickly and not quickly enough at the same time.
The first section of the book felt like a nicely detailed coming-of-age story describing Eva/Anca's life from about age 5 to 20 and I was excited to continue the book in that vein. The third part of the book when she ended up back in Hungary was a little better than the second section but still was nowhere near as engrossing as the first part. The ending was also wrapped up a little too neatly and cutely and contrasted too much with the rest of the story.
And totally unrelated, I think the cover art is a really weird choice. Eva/Anca has so many awful things happen to her throughout the entire book- but none of them really fit the cover image. Even if that's supposed to be her mother it still doesn't look or feel right. I know not to judge a book by the cover but it really is just odd.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 4, 2019
Eva Farkas, at the age of 5, is smuggled across the Hungarian border to Romania, to live with her aunt and uncle. Her Jewish mother is left behind to face her own fate. Eva becomes Anca and told to forget her past forever. History unfolds and Anca demonstrates a fervor for life and survival. She comes full circle when she returns to Hungary after the Iron Curtain falls. She meets an American there and her life becomes ever more full when they both seek to save a young boy downstairs from terrible abuse. This story shows how history can impact one's life in more ways than one.
August 20, 2020
I went to Budapest last year and since then, I've been interested in the history of the region. "Smuggled" provided a Cliff's Notes version of life in Hungary and Romania from WWII to 1990. Christina Shea sped through the story. I think that's what I found disappointing about the book: So many bad things happened to the protagonist, Eva, so quickly, that there wasn't really time to examine their impact.
September 15, 2020
Hungary to Romania 1938 to 1991. During Hitler's reine a 5 year old child of partial Jewish heritage is smuggled into Romania where she lives for the majority of her adult life.
Life struggles in a Communist country between Hungary and Romania are revealed in details of daily survival. Cheating, stealing and lying are necessary skills. How their accomplished to live another day are common place.
Life struggles in a Communist country between Hungary and Romania are revealed in details of daily survival. Cheating, stealing and lying are necessary skills. How their accomplished to live another day are common place.
January 21, 2018
Gripping, compelling, informative. In the midst of reading this book I paid a condolence call to someone who spoke of her husband's family's experiences in Romania from turn of the century until today.......this added to the story for the historical portion.
March 27, 2022
moved quickly writing style how she was su viber leaving Hungary to live with her aunt and uncle in Tomania in a flour sack taken out in a train . spans her lifetime and what eva changes to Ancs and back to Eva to hide her Jewishness. her relationships with people are clearly written,
July 31, 2021
Ok story of young girl sent from
Hungary to Roumania during WWII.
Hungary to Roumania during WWII.
April 19, 2022
Fantastic read
July 13, 2011
This review is also published at
Eva Farkas had a tough life. During Second World War at age five she was smuggled out of Hungary to Romania in a flour sack. In Romania she was forced to get the new false identity of Anca Balaj and leave everything about Eva Farkas behind. She was supposed to live with her paternal aunt and her husband for a couple of months, until her parents came for her, but they never came, her mother was capture in Hungary and later died in the train that was transporting her to a concentration camp and her father killed himself.
Now Anca/Eva has a new identity, new language, new country, new culture and a new family. She grew up with her aunt and uncle as normal as was possible under her circumstances and the circumstances of the time. Anca learned that she had to study very hard to become somebody in a communist country. She excelled in school and was selected to go to the university and from there on she tried to do her best with what she was given in life, good or bad without matter. But Anca always felt as an intruder in a country that wasn’t hers, always worrying that somebody would find out of her illegal documents or even worst discover that she was a Jew passing as Christian.
Smuggled was my first book by Christina Shea. I really didn’t know what to expect from it and to be honest I wasn’t expecting to like it as much as I did.
We met Eva/Anca as a very young child in the early 1940s and see her grow page by page until she is a woman of 50 in the 1990s. I liked that Eva/Anca really felt like child when she was one. Her behavior and reasoning was the expected from a young girl, and when the years start to pass and Eva/Anca is growing we see the normal changes time has on a person, her personality evolves and adapts making the changes felt real and believable.
Eva/Anca has lived through so many difficult situations. When you think life is settling for her, something happens and changes her life drastically, this happens more than once. She just experiences glimpses of happiness throughout her life. Eva/Anca is living during tough times, the Romania after Second World War is no a nice place to be. The communism under the regime of Nicolae Ceaușescu was one of the worst in the whole world and she lived through those times.
Eva/Anca was always looking for that place call home; even though she has been “the Romanian Anca� for the majority of her life she was never able to really grasp that identity, she felt she didn’t belonged anywhere and after the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989 she seizes the opportunity to return to Hungary to discover her roots.
I loved her amazement when entering Hungary, how she finds everything so enticing and new. Through her eyes I could feel her awe at discovering new things. Simple things for us now days as pavement roads, bananas or a purse with the coke brand imprinted on it, but for her, a refugee who lived all her life in a impoverished communist country all those new things are magical and alluring.
The secondary characters are shadows compare to her, they came to her life for a reason, sometimes good ones sometimes not so much. Their interactions made her the woman she becomes, but none of them really shines in the story, even tough I would have liked to learn more about what happened to some of them in the future.
I had a little problem with the pace, sometimes “years� drag a long for a while, when others flew with barely a mention. It also took me a little bit to get into it, this was because at the beginning the book is told from different points of view but sometimes it was not easy to differentiate when there was a change and I was seeing a new character’s POV. This may be because I read an ARC and the final book is edited better� I hope that is the case.
I really like Smuggled, notwithstanding that the end is a satisfying one this is not a nice book, definitely not one of those love in the clouds books, is harsh and real, set in times that make me feel glad and lucky I was born when and where I was born. Wars are not pretty and seeing all the “side effects� a war has on a society years after is finished would make you been thankful for your current life.
I recommend Smuggled to readers with interest in historical fiction and adult fiction. I hope to read more books by Christina Shea.
Eva Farkas had a tough life. During Second World War at age five she was smuggled out of Hungary to Romania in a flour sack. In Romania she was forced to get the new false identity of Anca Balaj and leave everything about Eva Farkas behind. She was supposed to live with her paternal aunt and her husband for a couple of months, until her parents came for her, but they never came, her mother was capture in Hungary and later died in the train that was transporting her to a concentration camp and her father killed himself.
Now Anca/Eva has a new identity, new language, new country, new culture and a new family. She grew up with her aunt and uncle as normal as was possible under her circumstances and the circumstances of the time. Anca learned that she had to study very hard to become somebody in a communist country. She excelled in school and was selected to go to the university and from there on she tried to do her best with what she was given in life, good or bad without matter. But Anca always felt as an intruder in a country that wasn’t hers, always worrying that somebody would find out of her illegal documents or even worst discover that she was a Jew passing as Christian.
Smuggled was my first book by Christina Shea. I really didn’t know what to expect from it and to be honest I wasn’t expecting to like it as much as I did.
We met Eva/Anca as a very young child in the early 1940s and see her grow page by page until she is a woman of 50 in the 1990s. I liked that Eva/Anca really felt like child when she was one. Her behavior and reasoning was the expected from a young girl, and when the years start to pass and Eva/Anca is growing we see the normal changes time has on a person, her personality evolves and adapts making the changes felt real and believable.
Eva/Anca has lived through so many difficult situations. When you think life is settling for her, something happens and changes her life drastically, this happens more than once. She just experiences glimpses of happiness throughout her life. Eva/Anca is living during tough times, the Romania after Second World War is no a nice place to be. The communism under the regime of Nicolae Ceaușescu was one of the worst in the whole world and she lived through those times.
Eva/Anca was always looking for that place call home; even though she has been “the Romanian Anca� for the majority of her life she was never able to really grasp that identity, she felt she didn’t belonged anywhere and after the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989 she seizes the opportunity to return to Hungary to discover her roots.
I loved her amazement when entering Hungary, how she finds everything so enticing and new. Through her eyes I could feel her awe at discovering new things. Simple things for us now days as pavement roads, bananas or a purse with the coke brand imprinted on it, but for her, a refugee who lived all her life in a impoverished communist country all those new things are magical and alluring.
The secondary characters are shadows compare to her, they came to her life for a reason, sometimes good ones sometimes not so much. Their interactions made her the woman she becomes, but none of them really shines in the story, even tough I would have liked to learn more about what happened to some of them in the future.
I had a little problem with the pace, sometimes “years� drag a long for a while, when others flew with barely a mention. It also took me a little bit to get into it, this was because at the beginning the book is told from different points of view but sometimes it was not easy to differentiate when there was a change and I was seeing a new character’s POV. This may be because I read an ARC and the final book is edited better� I hope that is the case.
I really like Smuggled, notwithstanding that the end is a satisfying one this is not a nice book, definitely not one of those love in the clouds books, is harsh and real, set in times that make me feel glad and lucky I was born when and where I was born. Wars are not pretty and seeing all the “side effects� a war has on a society years after is finished would make you been thankful for your current life.
I recommend Smuggled to readers with interest in historical fiction and adult fiction. I hope to read more books by Christina Shea.
May 19, 2012
This historical fiction novel sounds like it would be a perfect fit for me. The heroine, Eva, is a very young child who is smuggled out of Hungary into Romania during World War II. She's sent to live with her aunt and uncle. She's given a new name, a new history or backstory, and, of course, new documents that hide her Jewish identity. She's forbidden to speak of her old life, forbidden to speak her own language--at least after the first two weeks or so. She's forced to adapt really, really quickly. Unfortunately--for me--the novel barely covers the war years. It seems like we're just getting started to know this frightened young girl renamed Anka, when, we're rushed at a very alarming pace through her childhood years, teen years, college years, and adult life. Almost half the novel is spent with her as an adult in the late 60s, 70s, 80s, and early 90s. For readers who truly want to know all the gritty little details about what it might have been like to live in Romania during the Communist years, this one may be just what you're looking for.
The novel is very dark. Of course, it would almost have to be dark. In some ways the bleakness of the novel was almost too much for me. Especially as it traces just how far the narrator--Eva/Anka--will go to survive. I did NOT want to read about her personal life in that much detail. (This one is far from clean, trust me.)
Smuggled isn't a bad novel, it's just more of a not-for-me novel. I was hoping for more of a child/teen perspective/experience about World War II and maybe the early years of Communism--but I wasn't expecting it to cover quite so many years. And the attention to detail varies so much! There were things that I would have loved to read about--the war years, what it was like to live in hiding, have a secret life, what was it like to learn a new language, to be placed in a new family, etc. How she *really* felt about both her aunt and uncle, did she have a hard time adjusting, did she make friends, was it easy for her to go to school and have a 'normal' life after the war, what was it like to go to school, etc. How did it feel to hide her Jewishness for so many years--so many decades?
If you're looking for a novel about an oppressed woman that endured much...then this might be for you.
The novel is very dark. Of course, it would almost have to be dark. In some ways the bleakness of the novel was almost too much for me. Especially as it traces just how far the narrator--Eva/Anka--will go to survive. I did NOT want to read about her personal life in that much detail. (This one is far from clean, trust me.)
Smuggled isn't a bad novel, it's just more of a not-for-me novel. I was hoping for more of a child/teen perspective/experience about World War II and maybe the early years of Communism--but I wasn't expecting it to cover quite so many years. And the attention to detail varies so much! There were things that I would have loved to read about--the war years, what it was like to live in hiding, have a secret life, what was it like to learn a new language, to be placed in a new family, etc. How she *really* felt about both her aunt and uncle, did she have a hard time adjusting, did she make friends, was it easy for her to go to school and have a 'normal' life after the war, what was it like to go to school, etc. How did it feel to hide her Jewishness for so many years--so many decades?
If you're looking for a novel about an oppressed woman that endured much...then this might be for you.
September 13, 2011
Beginning in WWII and ending in the early 1990s, Smuggled tells the life story of Eva Farkas, and the story of Hungary and Romania under communist rule. Eva was smuggled out of Hungary thanks to her wealthy father; her mother, his mistress, was Jewish, making Eva a possible target. Eva is sent to her father's sister and her husband in Romania. Thanks to forged papers and a talent with languages, she is able to survive the war and get an education. Her story doesn't end there; nor does life get much easier after the war.
What drew me to this book was the WWII setting. This era has long been my favorite historical time period to read about and study, perhaps surpassed in recent years by the Vietnam War era but perhaps not. Anyway, the WWII aspects, primarily of Eva's smuggling, were definitely really interesting. Even more intriguing, though, was reading the story of her life in Romania, of the myriad terrible things she had to do to survive.
Although the first third of the book details Anca's childhood, this is most definitely not a book intended for young readers. The themes are dark and only get darker as Anca grows up. Speaking of that, be forewarned that this story is gritty and painful and violent at times. It involves scenes of rape and prostitution. History isn't always pretty, which, I think, people generally know, but this is a side that isn't always as focused on. Eva/Anca (her Romanian name) has such an amazing spirit to have made it through all that she did. Despite all of the awful things she goes through, she retains the ability to trust and to love, which is incredibly inspiring. Nor does her character seem at all fake or overly optimistic; she's just a really strong person.
If you love books about the war or about life under the Soviet regime, you should not miss this one. It's beautifully written and completely fascinating from the first pages.
What drew me to this book was the WWII setting. This era has long been my favorite historical time period to read about and study, perhaps surpassed in recent years by the Vietnam War era but perhaps not. Anyway, the WWII aspects, primarily of Eva's smuggling, were definitely really interesting. Even more intriguing, though, was reading the story of her life in Romania, of the myriad terrible things she had to do to survive.
Although the first third of the book details Anca's childhood, this is most definitely not a book intended for young readers. The themes are dark and only get darker as Anca grows up. Speaking of that, be forewarned that this story is gritty and painful and violent at times. It involves scenes of rape and prostitution. History isn't always pretty, which, I think, people generally know, but this is a side that isn't always as focused on. Eva/Anca (her Romanian name) has such an amazing spirit to have made it through all that she did. Despite all of the awful things she goes through, she retains the ability to trust and to love, which is incredibly inspiring. Nor does her character seem at all fake or overly optimistic; she's just a really strong person.
If you love books about the war or about life under the Soviet regime, you should not miss this one. It's beautifully written and completely fascinating from the first pages.
June 21, 2011
I thoroughly enjoyed this book from the very beginning. I had some trouble relating to the main character as she unfolded quite slowly through the pages but the events going on around her were enough to keep me engaged in the storytelling. The supporting characters were a bit forgettable but I find that in most historical novels, they are. It’s more about this one character and their perceptions of the events around them which I enjoy reading about. Once I became attached to the character it went more quickly and the blend of storytelling and characterization carried me along to a fine finish.
I do agree with another reviewer who mentioned the awkward pacing of the novel. Sometimes events would unfold quickly and other times seemed to drag on with no apparent reasoning for the difference. It wasn’t enough to make me put down the book but it did disengage me from reading as I stumbled through a few of the quicker passages and went back to re-read them in case I was misunderstanding the quicker pace.
Overall, an enjoyable read for historical fiction enthusiasts and one that deserves more publicity than which it is being given.
ARC Galley
I do agree with another reviewer who mentioned the awkward pacing of the novel. Sometimes events would unfold quickly and other times seemed to drag on with no apparent reasoning for the difference. It wasn’t enough to make me put down the book but it did disengage me from reading as I stumbled through a few of the quicker passages and went back to re-read them in case I was misunderstanding the quicker pace.
Overall, an enjoyable read for historical fiction enthusiasts and one that deserves more publicity than which it is being given.
ARC Galley
September 8, 2011
I was given this book by the mother of the editor who is a friend of mine.
At first I thought a little "ho-hum" but soon I was drawn into this tale of a WW II child smuggled from Hungary by her Jewish mother to her father's (not married to the mother) sister in Romania in the middle of WW II.
Having read Patrick Leigh Fermor's "Between the Woods and the Water" just a few weeks earlier I had learned that the inhabitants of northern Romania were mostly Hungarians left on the far side of a border after WW I and the fall of the Hapsburgs. Even so, the little girl had to learn Romanian to blend in with her new home and her name was changed from Eva Farkas to Anca Balaj.
She grows up in what becomes Communist Romania, so the novel has descriptions of what that was like. After the fall of Ceausescu in 1989 she eventually moves to the city of her birth, Szeged in Hungary just over the border, and makes a new life in a new world, helped along by her knowledge of English, French, and Russian, in addition to her native Hungarian and Romanian. Her story encapsulates the political history of the 20th century from 1940 to 2000.
At first I thought a little "ho-hum" but soon I was drawn into this tale of a WW II child smuggled from Hungary by her Jewish mother to her father's (not married to the mother) sister in Romania in the middle of WW II.
Having read Patrick Leigh Fermor's "Between the Woods and the Water" just a few weeks earlier I had learned that the inhabitants of northern Romania were mostly Hungarians left on the far side of a border after WW I and the fall of the Hapsburgs. Even so, the little girl had to learn Romanian to blend in with her new home and her name was changed from Eva Farkas to Anca Balaj.
She grows up in what becomes Communist Romania, so the novel has descriptions of what that was like. After the fall of Ceausescu in 1989 she eventually moves to the city of her birth, Szeged in Hungary just over the border, and makes a new life in a new world, helped along by her knowledge of English, French, and Russian, in addition to her native Hungarian and Romanian. Her story encapsulates the political history of the 20th century from 1940 to 2000.
September 17, 2012
I liked it and didn't. I was excited to read this because it touched on what was going on in Hungary and Romania during world war 2 with Stalin and Hitler. But I was slightly disappointed that I didn't learn more about the history of what really went on. I feel like they talked about Stalin and communism in such a way that they assumed that the reader had a good knowledge of what exactly was going on in those countries at the time. I felt that I was missing something. The story was intriguing and kept my attention. There is alot of sex in the book, most as a result of her position in her country and her need for survival. I didn't hate it but I didn't love it. **Can I edit to add, I do feel like they represented very well, what it would have been like to be a citizen of these countries during this time. Lots of political drama and survival... however I guess I felt like I didn't completely understand exactly what was going on politically as a result of the war in the country as a whole that made these citizens lives the way that they were.
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