It is 1890 when three young women head toward a meadow hidden in the woods outside the village of Shipkovtsi, Bulgaria. As Trina, Vella, and Dobrinka meet in front of an old monastery, a family treasure held secret for generations is revealed. In the end, there are three piles of gold-one in front of each sister-but one pile is bigger than the others. An inheritance has been unfairly divided, leaving two sisters feeling cheated.

In "ASHES of WARS," Radka Yakimov narrates the story of the descendents of two of those Bulgarian sisters. Reconstructed historically on the basis of recorded facts, stories handed down from generation to generation, and her own personal recollections, Yakimov chronicles the main events that impacted the lives of four generations of Bulgarians throughout the twentieth century. As she relays a saga about the twenty-three men, women, and children who escaped in search of a safer place, Yakimov takes her readers beyond the confines of Bulgaria into Yugoslavia, to a refugee camp in Trieste, and finally to new lives in Canada and America.

"ASHES of WARS" profiles the courage, grit, and determination of the people of a beautiful Balkan country torn by wars and oppression, but sustained by hopes for a brighter future.

In Cafe "The Blue Danube," Radka Yakimov, a native of Bulgaria, recalls tales that are heartfelt, reflective and insightful. The communist regimes of Eastern Europe, the fight for women's rights and trying to adapt to a new life in Canada while suspended between two worlds are towering themes in this hard-hitting book. Yakimov takes her readers to faraway places. You'll meet Mrs. Bailey, who finds herself in a strange place-right in her own country; you'll learn how so many are struggling with life in the post-communists democracies while battling the consequences of totalitarianism; and you'll feel how agonizing it can be for a mother to yearn for a child in a faraway place. And of course, you'll walk through the doors of Cafe "The Blue Danube," where immigrants united by a common love of dancing and music can congregate and come to terms with their own circumstances, their own problems and their own regrets all while looking to the future. The memoirs in Cafe "The Blue Danube" deftly point out that being a newcomer can be a difficult experience, but they also celebrate what makes us all different-as well as the same.

It is 1890 when three young women head toward a meadow hidden in the woods outside the village of Shipkovtsi, Bulgaria. As Trina, Vella, and Dobrinka meet in front of an old monastery, a family treasure held secret for generations is revealed. In the end, there are three piles of gold-one in front of each sister-but one pile is bigger than the others. An inheritance has been unfairly divided, leaving two sisters feeling cheated.

In "ASHES of WARS," Radka Yakimov narrates the story of the descendents of two of those Bulgarian sisters. Reconstructed historically on the basis of recorded facts, stories handed down from generation to generation, and her own personal recollections, Yakimov chronicles the main events that impacted the lives of four generations of Bulgarians throughout the twentieth century. As she relays a saga about the twenty-three men, women, and children who escaped in search of a safer place, Yakimov takes her readers beyond the confines of Bulgaria into Yugoslavia, to a refugee camp in Trieste, and finally to new lives in Canada and America.

"ASHES of WARS" profiles the courage, grit, and determination of the people of a beautiful Balkan country torn by wars and oppression, but sustained by hopes for a brighter future.

In Cafe "The Blue Danube," Radka Yakimov, a native of Bulgaria, recalls tales that are heartfelt, reflective and insightful. The communist regimes of Eastern Europe, the fight for women's rights and trying to adapt to a new life in Canada while suspended between two worlds are towering themes in this hard-hitting book. Yakimov takes her readers to faraway places. You'll meet Mrs. Bailey, who finds herself in a strange place-right in her own country; you'll learn how so many are struggling with life in the post-communists democracies while battling the consequences of totalitarianism; and you'll feel how agonizing it can be for a mother to yearn for a child in a faraway place. And of course, you'll walk through the doors of Cafe "The Blue Danube," where immigrants united by a common love of dancing and music can congregate and come to terms with their own circumstances, their own problems and their own regrets all while looking to the future. The memoirs in Cafe "The Blue Danube" deftly point out that being a newcomer can be a difficult experience, but they also celebrate what makes us all different-as well as the same.

"Dreams and Shadows" is a story about the lives of people trapped in the oppressive reality of a totalitarian regime. This is Bulgaria, a Balkan country, which was overrun by the Red Army on September 9, 1944 and became one of the "satellites" to the former USSR. It remained in the Soviet orbit of influence until November 10, 1989. This is a story of lost futures, struggles, survival, and quest for freedom; a journey along a road paved with broken dreams and dashed hopes. The story begins with a child's recollections: from the carpet bombings the capital city of Sofia was subjected to during 1943 and 1944, to the dramatic changes after September 9, 1944 and how they affected the everyday lives of the people of Bulgaria. It also describes the hopes and disappointments of the people affected by "the changes" after 1989: the attempt to reconnect, after a long separation, with one's country of birth, only to come to the realization that one does not belong there anymore, yet is never really emotionally free from it.