When the Summer was Ours
It’s 1943 in Sopron, Hungary when 20-year-old Eva Cesar is at her family’s country estate. Eva has her life planned out. This is her last summer of being single; she will marry Eduard, a Red Cross doctor; and she will study to become a nurse and work beside him. Things change when there is a chance encounter with Aleandro, a Romani violinist and artist. Aleandro is supporting his young brothers by performing music in the street for monetary donations.
Aleandro and Eva fall in love. When Eva’s father hears about their relationship, he beats Eva. She runs to her nanny Dora for safety. Discovering that she is pregnant, she stays with Dora for support and help in raising her daughter, Bianca. Aleandro, considered an undesirable, ends up at a Nazi concentration camp where his artistic ability saves his life. He draws portraits of the various Nazi guards and officials. On the sly he creates drawings of life at the camp.
Eventually Eva marries her doctor; she becomes a nurse; and together they raise Bianca. Aleandro doesn’t realize he has a daughter. Wherever life takes them, neither Eva or Aleandro forget each other and the summer of 1943.
Spanning decades, this is an unforgettable love story.
~Emma
Read it or Weep 