Martin (Good Living Skills: Learned from My Mother among other titles), author of an eclectic array of non-fiction titles, offers a novel based centered on her family’s history and the Armenian genocide. Cassie is thirteen years old in the 1960s when she experiences terrifying nightmares about weary men riding horses–and then being killed by swordsmen. Her grandfather recognizes this vision and insists that Cassie is dreaming about how his father and grandfather were attacked in Armenia by the Ottoman Turks. He believes that his deceased sister may have been reincarnated as Cassie. In a parallel narrative, Aram, the older brother of Cassie’s grandfather Hrant, is preparing to travel to the U.S. to study to become a teacher or doctor in the early twentieth century. As nine-year-old Hrant discovers tunnels under the city of Van, his father tells him about the Armenian massacre that occurred before his birth. With rising tensions between the Armenian resistance and the Turks, Hrant is forced to flee to Russia with his mother and brother and later emigrates to the U.S.

Martin capably highlights the brutality of the Armenian genocide while emphasizing the impact that the murders of her ancestors has had on future generations. While focusing on her own family, she capably weaves historical details and events into the narrative and delves into cultural differences between Turk and the Armenian populations, such as the treatment of women or the roles of arts and education.

The journey of the Gulumian family to Russia to the U.S. is fast-paced and richly enhanced by Martin’s depictions of ever-present dangers–from Turkish soldiers, from illness in Russia’s refugee camps. Martin captures the family’s fortitude as they continue their journey despite grave losses. Though some of the short, terse sentences break up the narrative flow, they do not significantly detract from this immersive story about one family’s determination to survive and thrive against the odds.

Takeaway: This immersive historical novel celebrates the endurance of an Armenian family fleeing persecution.

Great for fans of: Aline Ohanesian’s Orhan’s Inheritance, Nancy Kricorian’s All the Light There Was.

Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A