We have all watched the newscasts, most recently from Ukraine; refugees snaking along dusty roads, bewildered faces gazing unseeing out of the windows of trains and buses – and the children, a tot crying in an adult’s arms, and teenagers whose world is upended in terror and confusion.
War is indeed hell, we acknowledge, from the safety of our armchairs here in Canada.
In Where the Roses Grow by Nikolina Ivankovic, we have the opportunity to walk in the Oakville author’s footsteps as she and her family attempt to escape the terrible war consuming the former Yugoslavia during the 1990s.
Frontlines shift, minefields both physical and mental appear, and mysterious bureaucrats halt the refugees’ progress as heavily armed militiamen stand guard. It is a perilous journey through what are now the separate countries of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and eventually to a new life here in Canada.
In clear, direct language – this is, after all, the author’s second language – Nikolina paints a vivid picture of a young woman, newly in love, who finds war sneaking up on her with little warning and how her perilous journey teaches her a strength and compassion she never knew she possessed. (This reviewer would have liked a map showing the family’s trek.)
Where the Roses Grow is dedicated to her family and written as a tribute to all refugees fleeing all wars.
Do not be put off reading Nikolina’s first-hand account of her journey by the everpresent peril of the family’s odyssey.
There is a rare depth to this telling; tales of the humanity and kindness of strangers are shown so often to these refugees.
The book’s subtitle, ‘touching stories of survival’ hints at safe havens found in the most unexpected of places as well as a blossoming of friendship even during the darkest of times.
Another unusual aspect of this telling is the recipes scattered throughout the chapters, like the leavening of a loaf, a reminder of the need to ‘make do’ in war as, no matter how dire the circumstances, we must still eat.
War Cookies is surely the simplest sandwich cookie in the world to make – with good reason – on the other hand, Baklava Teta Senina looks simple enough but is very probably quite the reverse!
Even homemade recipes for facemasks are included – a nod to a woman’s self-respect.
There are many ‘war stories’ on the bookshelves these days, both personal and invented, but it is a relatively rare book that captures so tellingly the humanity as well as the cruelty that shows up in war.
Where the Roses Grow is, above all, an honest account of a journey none of us would ever want to be forced to undertake.
Where The Roses Grow by Nikolina Ivankovi is published by IC Publishing of Canada, released in May 2022, and available in paperback for $24.99.