Journey to Polonia

Book excerpt: Investigating her family history helps a teenager heal after a brutal attack. Olivia, 17, becomes the victim of a rape by someone she knows on her way home from school. Unwilling to face her classmates, she turns to her extended family while she heals, listening to stones about their jour­neys from Poland in the late 19th century. Her grandmother's story touches her deeply. She hears about Albert and Sara, who leave for America just one step ahead of revenue agents; Peter and Ursula, who dream of a land without oppression; and Francis and Anna, who emigrate rather than endure rule by the Russians, even though Anna was forced to travel alone. Listening to their stories brings strength to Olivia, who learns of their courage in cre­ating new lives. Set in the 1960s, the novel also highlights the history of Poland in the 1800s, when it existed mainly in the minds of its people because the country did not exist from 1795 to 1918. Without a homeland to call their own, immigrants to the United States had to claim Germany, Russia or Austria as their native country, and more than a million did so in that time­frame. Like Olivia's ancestors, they found community in neighborhoods and Roman Catholic churches that spoke their language and followed Polish customs. Journey to Polonia echoes the author's own family history of immigrants and will resonate with anyone who has taken a chance on a better way of life.