Caravans in the Dark: A Novel

by B. K. Oldre

Overview

Fifteen-year-old Jana’s Romani family leads a nomadic life, traveling and trading horses, in Czechoslovakia. When her family relocates to Prague one step ahead of the Nazi invasion, Jana becomes a freedom fighter. She gets a job in the Prague castle, where secret messages are hidden inside of clocks and she must smuggle them out of the castle and pass them on to the Resistance.

After the Nazis close all Czech colleges and universities, Jana and two of her peers—her Resistance contact, Otto, who was the first in his family to attend college, and a fellow student, Albert—are even more determined to free their country from the Nazi oppressors. All three will face danger and desperate choices as they learn that this fight will cost them more than they ever imagined.

In this coming-of-age story set in extraordinary times, Jana and her friends strive to find love and their place in the world—even as they fight the Nazi occupation of their country.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781647424343
Publisher:	She Writes Press
Publication date:	06/06/2023
Pages:	280
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

B. K. Oldre is a former librarian with a BA in English literature and an MLIS degree. She studied writing at the University of Minnesota and The Loft Literary Center, where she completed the year-long class The Novel Writing Project, taught by best-selling author Peter Geye. She writes short stories, historical fiction, and historical mysteries. She and her husband live in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Editorial Reviews

Overall, this historical novel has a compelling premise, tackling an underrepresented story of the Second World War. . . . Oldre’s impressive research shines in the descriptions of Romani life and traditions.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Caravans in the Dark is everything historical fiction ought to be. At once fascinating in its period detail, epic in scope, and impossibly rich, it not only brings the past to resplendent light but also illuminates the foibles of our contemporary moment. On top of all this, it’s a novel fairly bursting with characters to fall in love with. What an accomplishment from a writer who can seemingly do it all.”
—Peter Geye, author of The Ski Jumpers

“By creating an unlikely heroine, B. K. Oldre captures the centuries-old persecution and suffering of the Romani people that culminated in Porajmos, the genocide committed against the Roma during WWII. Jana encapsulates crucial elements of the recurring prejudice against the Roma, and at the same time illuminates a reality in which Roma cease to be nonhuman.”
—Habiba Hadziavdic, author of Antigypsyism and Film

“Deeply researched and tenderly rendered, B. K. Oldre’s Caravans in the Dark captures a not-often-told World War II story—that of the persecution of the Romani people in Czechoslovakia. Readers of historical fiction and those interested in WWII stories will find much to admire.”
—Linda Kiss, author of Tasa’s Song and A Ritchie Boy

From the Publisher

2023-06-06
Oldre’s historical novel delves into the struggles of Romani people under Nazi occupation.

In the late 1930s, a Romani family travels though the prewar Czechoslovakia, trying to make a living. Fifteen-year-old Jana Benak is used to this nomadic life, helping her stepmother Zofie take care of younger siblings, telling fortunes in town, and scavenging for supplies, but she longs for more independence and self-expression. Not long after Jana’s family arrives in Prague, they’re caught in the crosshairs of conflict: Nazi soldiers flood the country, bringing out deep-seated animosity between the local Germans and the Czech population. For the Romani, this means even more uncertainty and persecution; many men in Jana’s family are arrested, their horses are requisitioned for the German army’s needs, and a brief but chilling encounter between Jana and Adolf Hitler himself leaves no doubt about his plans: “We’ll soon be rid of her race,” he mutters to his entourage. The novel follows several characters as they attempt to resist the Nazis. Jana forms a connection with a clockmaker, Joseph Novotny, at the castle where she works; he trains her to deliver clandestine messages. Meanwhile, Jana’s friend Otto is drawn into a plot to tamper with the steel used for gun production, and his Czech friend Albert uses his family’s means to help Romani people escape the occupied territories. Overall, this historical novel has a compelling premise, tackling an underrepresented story of the Second World War. However, the aimless plot and overly large cast of characters make for a tedious read. Small incidents eventually coalesce into a larger picture, but when the climax finally arrives, it rests on a historical figure who’s otherwise peripheral to the main action. Oldre’s impressive research shines in the descriptions of Romani life and traditions. However, some of the dialogue is so slangy that it feels almost anachronistic (“Can you believe those jerks?”; “get your ass back on the job, pronto”).

A well-intentioned but awkwardly executed look at lesser-known events of World War II.

Kirkus Reviews