THE GIRL THEY LEFT BEHIND by Roxanne Veletzos

The author's mother was a girl left behind. It was in January 1941, Bucharest, Romania. Yet another pogrom against the Jewish population of the city is underway - desperate people in very desperate times. A little girl is left, abandoned with only a note pleading for her to be saved. Her parents disappear, never heard from again. The little girl ended up being adopted by a couple, loved, cared for and always knowing that she was left behind.

The author grew up with this mystery, it forming the backdrop to her own life. Now she has written this novel which is a mixture of what she knows of her mother's story, what she thinks the story could have been, and the also the story of many other Romanian Jews during the war and the 50 years of communist rule afterwards.

This is such a beautifully told story, acknowledging loss, abandonment but never dwelling on it or squeezing it for emotional effect. The is as much the story of the little girl, called Natalia in this story, as it is the story of the couple who adopted her - Anton and Despina - the author's real life adoptive grandparents. They are brave, resourceful and above all loving to the little girl they were blessed to raise as their own. There are beautiful photos at the back of the book of Anton and Despina and the author's mother - the story is ever more poignant knowing that the characters are based on people who lived through these times.

The people of the communist bloc countries had a terrible time in the years after WWII, Anton and Despina no exception. The constant need to be vigilant in who you spoke with, who you met with, rationing, starvation, fear of the authorities, and at all times people wanting to flee, escape to anywhere else. It is only in recent years that their stories are beginning to come out. This is one of those. Inspiring and uplifting.