
Train to Trieste
Domnica Radulescu(Author)
Black Swan (Publisher)
Published on 13. August 2009
Book
Paperback/Softback
400 pages
978-0-552-77474-1 (ISBN)
Description
It is 1977 and seventeen-year-old Mona Manoliu has fallen in love with Mihai, a mysterious boy who lives in the romantic mountain city where she spends her summers. She can think of nothing and no one else.
But life under Ceausescu's Romania is difficult. Hunger, paranoia and fear infect everyone. One day Mona sees Mihai wearing the black leather jacket favoured by the secret police. Is it possible he is one of them? As food shortages worsen and more of her loved ones disappear, Mona comes to understand that she must leave Romania.
She escapes in secret - narrowly avoiding the police - through Yugoslavia to Italy, and finally to Chicago. But she leaves without saying a final goodbye to Mihai. And though she struggles to bury her longing for the past, many years later she finds herself compelled to return, determined to learn the truth.
But life under Ceausescu's Romania is difficult. Hunger, paranoia and fear infect everyone. One day Mona sees Mihai wearing the black leather jacket favoured by the secret police. Is it possible he is one of them? As food shortages worsen and more of her loved ones disappear, Mona comes to understand that she must leave Romania.
She escapes in secret - narrowly avoiding the police - through Yugoslavia to Italy, and finally to Chicago. But she leaves without saying a final goodbye to Mihai. And though she struggles to bury her longing for the past, many years later she finds herself compelled to return, determined to learn the truth.
Reviews / Votes
"A coming of age story, a struggle for political integrity and female identity, a wonderful love story - the book engages us on many levels." -- Bernhard Schlink, author of THE READER and HOMECOMING. "I was swept away by Domnica Radulescu's debut novel. It's at once a haunting journey to a faraway country, beautiful and terrifying, and an odyssey straight to the heart of a young girl and the remarkable woman she becomes. Deeply moving and deeply felt, Train to Trieste is an unforgettable story that introduces a new and astonishingly fresh voice." -- Arthur Golden, author of Memoirs of a GeishaMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Transworld Publishers Ltd
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 197 mm
Width: 126 mm
Thickness: 24 mm
Weight
280 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-552-77474-1 (9780552774741)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Domnica Radulescu
Train to Trieste
E-Book
09/2008
1st Edition
Transworld Digital
€8.99
Available for download
Person
Domnica Radulescu won Romania's National Prize for Short Story Writing when she was just 17 but fled the country soon after to escape the Communist dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu. She is now a Full Professor in the Department of Romance Languages and Chair of the Women's Studies Program at Washington and Lee University.