Stolen Years is available as a Kindle Edition or in paperback form. Click here to purchase a copy.
About the book:
1940 – Poland is under German and Russian occupation.
Anna is just seventeen when the Gestapo snatch her from her native village. Together with a group of young people she is forced into slave labour at a remote farm in Austria, where their despotic ‘owner’, Herr Holtzman, keeps an ever-watchful eye over them.
For five long years, Anna and her friends are subjected to relentless hard labour and appalling living conditions. Their miserable existence is punctuated by frequent incidents of Nazi cruelty, tragedy and death. Anna’s enforced separation from her beloved Michal is the hardest blow to bear.
Finally, the day of liberation arrives. Will she be reunited for good with Michal? Will she see her lost friends again, those who were her substitute family during her time in this hostile environment? Will she be able to return to her mother, whom she has so desperately missed?
At the end of the war in 1945 Poland’s future is decided by the Big Three: Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin. Anna too is faced with having to make momentous personal decisions, such that she had never imagined in her years of slavery when her only desire was to return home.
Category: Historical fiction, WW2 fiction
Here are some of the reviews:
Liz Ringrose 5 out of 5 Stars
Sensitive and beautifully written
Kazia Myers has captured the spirit and optimism of a generation in her beautiful book, Stolen Years. The author truly knows her subject and has drawn an intricate and often heartbreaking story of young people whose lives are torn apart by circumstances beyond their control. Despite the hardships she suffers, courageous Anna and her friends keep the torch of hope alive. The novel is a fine insight into the lives of Polish civilians captured and forced into virtual slavery during the Second World War. We grieve with Anna for her lost youth but are also inspried by her courage and determination to have the happy life intended for her.
Deb Green 5 out of 5 Stars
A thought provoking and humbling read
Anna’s story is told so well that you actually feel as if you are experiencing all of the sights, sounds and horrendous smells with her. She was such a brave girl to survive the turmoil put in her way. I absolutely loved this book – from the first page to the last, it was gripping and exciting and evoked feelings of fear, happiness and terror. I have recommended this book to everyone I know and if I could give it 10 stars, I would.
Kazia Myers 