Follow Here To Purchase Where the Willow Grows in Transylvania

Authors: Rosa Alexander With Shelah

ISBN: 978-1-61777-613-7

Publishers: Tate Publishing and Enterprises

Many of us are unaware that there are millions of ethnic Hungarians who live in areas in Romania that was once part of Hungary. These areas are known as Transylvania and it was with the conclusion of World War I and the Treaty of Versailles signed in 1919 that recognized the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Romania over Transylvania.

Within this setting, Rosa Alexander, together with her co-author Shelah, focus their fictional account of a spirited eight year old Rosa, who in the early 1960s began to envisage living in America. The birth of Rosa's dream breaks ground when one day she meets her aunt Klara who comes all the way from America to pay her and her family a visit. And after spending time with her aunt Klara and learning all about America, Rosa is determined to leave her native land and live in a country free of poverty, abuse, tyranny, and sadness. However, little did she know what difficulties and challenges she would encounter in actualizing her dream.

With each page, Where the Willow Grows in Transylvania gains momentum, as step-by-step the authors throw open the life of this young child as she endures the emotional and physical abuse at the hands of her father, who was the village drunkard, the endless days of begging her unsympathetic paternal grandmother for milk, and the ridicule she experienced emanating from her peers concerning her dream of one day moving to America-the land of golden opportunity.

As we are to discover from the singular voice of this resolute child, Rosa refuses to permit hardship and adversity to knock her down. And to help her find her strength in carrying on, she often seeks refuge in a tiny island at the foot of her grandfather's farm where a willow tree grows in Transylvania.

The authors structure the tale with a number of themes, one of which is that it is good to dream, even if the possibility of our dreams materializing seem remote. As Rosa's mother wisely sums it up: “For a dream to grow, you must fertilize your dream and nurture it with hope. You must regularly weed out roots of doubt that might try to strangle and smother the life out of your dream.”

Another theme that pops up is that of making choices and how people jump to conclusions about others, judging them before knowing the entire story. Before leaving for America, Rosa and her husband Alan had to promise the Romania authorities that they would act as spies, which, incidentally they never did fulfill this obligation while in America. However, what was even more of a heart wrenching decision was that they had to leave their two children, Julia and Peter behind with their grandparents, as the authorities would not grant them the permission to leave the country. Believing this would only be a temporary separation, they were soon to discover that the world of red tape can be endless and cruel leading to a separation that would last almost four years. This was a period when their own children were questioning their decision and begging them to be reunited, even believing their class mates and neighbors that their parents had abandoned them.

Alexander and Shelah have authored a novel depicting Rosa's experiences with fierce and agonizing exactitude that by and large turns out to be a great read. You can easily appreciate that this book is a labor of love, such as few people would have had the energies or temerity to undertake. However, where I felt the story somewhat falters is the lack of development of the historical context and treatment of the Hungarians in Transylvania during this era, which I feel would have made the yarn more potent. It would have been far better to leave out some of the chapters concerning Rosa's family experiences and insert details concerning the temper and mood of the country before and during the Ceausecu regime as reflected in the treatment she and her husband Alan experienced in their relationship with their co-workers and neighbors. Nonetheless, the book is an intriguing read, and as the opening dedicating words remind us, and the advice that Rosa received from her mother: “never let where you came from dictate how you perceive yourself. Let your past problems strengthen you and become part of the valuable person you are.”

Click Here To Read Norm's Interview With Rosa Alexander Co-Author of Where The Willow Grows in Transylvania