This image is the cover for the book Black Rose and African Violets

Black Rose and African Violets

Black Rose and African Violets is a true story portrayed through the eyes of a child growing up in post-war Britain. Over the years, Anna discovers the ordeals her mother suffered during the horrors of World War Two: her capture and imprisonment in two of the Nazis’ most notorious concentration camps, her escape and recapture, and her subsequent internment in the Soviet Gulag. Rescued by General Anders’ Army, Anna’s mother travels through Siberia and Iran before reaching Africa and, eventually, England, where she served out the war under British command. Having lost her family, her identity and her country, with no hope of returning, this is a story of trauma, sadness, hope and resilience. Memories can be lost, misunderstood and fade over time. Those with direct recollections of the painful events of the Second World War are no longer with us. It is, therefore, all the more important that such memories are preserved if we are to learn the hard lessons from the past.

Anna Karczewska Slowikowska

Anna Karczewska Slowikowska is a retired Chartered Psychologist. For over 30 years, she worked in the voluntary, statutory and private sectors, during which time she had a number of articles published. Her interest in her mother’s wartime experiences developed from a curiosity to learn more about her and to research her familial past. The tranquillity of her home in the beautiful Scottish Borders town of Melrose helped her write of her mother’s disturbing background. Anna has two children, Beatrix and Alexander, and three granddaughters, and each year commutes between Australia and Scotland. Time is also spent in her architectural award-winning home, playing tennis and badminton. Anna has recently become a member of Probus and volunteers with Talking Newspapers for the blind.

Austin Macauley Publishers