Tito's Legacy: a historical novel (The Balkan Trilogy) - Softcover

Tuma, Tanja

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1790508258 ISBN 13: 9781790508259

Publisher: Independently published, 2018

Synopsis

Tito’s Legacy is the second part of the Balkan Trilogy, Tanja’s epic homage to the passionate people of former Yugoslavia. Winds of Dalmatia, the first book, was published in 2013.Like Tanja herself, the scarred and tragic protagonists in Winds of Dalmatia survive the Yugoslav wars during the 1990s and continue their destiny in Tito’s Legacy. Again, we meet Paula Perić, daughter of Maria, an entrepreneur and hotel owner with a shady past, and Jovan, a Serbian commander during the Bosnian War. After surviving cancer and her parents’ death, Paula pursues her studies in Ljubljana, where she meets Matej Nemec. They soon become best friends. The son of a notorious tycoon, young Matej can’t help but have ridiculously high moral standards. Through his writing, he brings the history of Slovenia and Istria to life — from the prehistoric pile dwellers on the Ljubljana Marshes to Baroque polymath Baron Valvasor and the first known vampire, Jure Grando, to Comrade Tito and his famous guests, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, on Brijuni. In his quest for truth, Matej stumbles over some horrible evidence. He loses his money and standing in society, only to find his humanity as a drifter in the sordid dregs of a big city.

About this title

About the Author

Tanja Tuma was born behind the Iron Curtain in former Yugoslavia, the failed melting pot of southern Slavs. As the Cold War ended, she witnessed the cruel wheels of history turning in the Balkans. Eventually, she found herself a citizen of a different melting pot, the European Union. Newlywed, with a degree in French, English and German literature in her pocket, and a couple of kids on her hands, she embarked on a career in publishing. Although writing being her childhood dream, she had to reconcile with the motto live now, write later. Tanja worked in various international areas of publishing, getting a taste of intrigues, foul play, and political games. She has survived swimming with sharks, served as the president of the Slovenian Publishers Association and even today, as a member of PEN never stopped fighting for human rights.

When their kids became independent, Tanja and her husband escaped to the solitude of Slovenian woods and the time had finally come for her to retire from active business and write. At last. She started an ambitious project, The Balkan Trilogy, which will show the history and the fall of former Yugoslavia. This unfortunate, tumultuous region is often misunderstood. Tanja decided to offer a different perspective, as she understands the languages, the lands and the peoples. In 2013, she published the first book, Winds of Dalmatia, now followed by Tito's Legacy. She doesn't really know the publishing date of the third book, but she knows the title: Yugoslavia Forever

Review

"Much like W.B. Yeats, Tanja Tuma knows that the story of a culture is best told by its preserved legends. This collection beautifully reveals the soul of Istria and Slovenia." - Hubert O'Hearn, literary agent and critic

Edition details

• Publisher: Independently published
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1790508258
• ISBN 13: 9781790508259
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 495