The Labyrinth of Vukovar / Ballad for Emma

Foreword Clarion Review (★★★★) 4 STAR GIVEN BY FOREWORD CLARION

Ballad for Emma

Blanka Raguz

This unique novel builds a romance into Croatia’s history.

A sweeping tale of love and setback, Blanka Raguz’s historical romance Ballad for Emma encapsulates major

events in the early twentieth century.

The story begins in Croatia and travels across Eastern Europe. After a tumultuous love affair and tragedy,

Bertha gives birth to Emma and dies from complications. Later, Emma finds a job working at the mansion of a

baroness, where she finds love, heartbreak, and purpose.

In the background, two world wars ignite, throwing Europe into chaos and reverberating down to Emma, who

is forced to react to survive…. The novel is part romance, part historical document. The author, a Croatian native,

interweaves Emma’s story line with broader historical strokes. These historical segments are decisive and

direct, explaining facts and details, but still allowing for emotional connections. They give great insight into how

the world wars impacted Croatia and its people, highlighting the general crossfire they found themselves in.

The wars are documented from both sides to avoid bias, leading to numerous accounts of tragedies and inspirational tales.

Emma’s sections are more passionate and dramatic. Her story often involves reactions to historical goings-on

and to personal turmoil, including elements such as misunderstandings, grudges, hope, and delicate relationship

balances. These sections are held back from melodrama by reinforcement from the historical accounts, which provide

context to character actions and motives. The two writing styles balance to keep things engaging and informative.

The men that Emma falls in love with across her life are a varied and colorful cast, and they often reflect their

time periods well. For example, during World War II, Emma is with Comrade Marko, a revolutionary of the Communist

Party; the two have many discussions and arguments concerning the party’s ideologies and practices.

While some of these romances are formulaic, they form a cohesive whole that reflects not only the changing

state of the world but Emma’s own growth. The more she experiences, and the more men she meets and falls in love

with, the more she matures and learns what is truly important about love….

However, by the end, Emma’s personal changes serve to mirror Croatia’s budding stability

and peace.

Ballad for Emma is a unique and interesting novel that builds a romance into Croatian history.

CJ TRIPLETT (May 19, 2017)

 

Blueink Review

Ballad for Emma

 

…In this saga by Blanka Raguz, a woman’s life journey evolves against the backdrop of wars-ravaged Croatia and Hungary. Dealing with an undesirable arranged marriage, she clings to the memory of a past relationship while struggling to survive.

The story begins with protagonist Emma’s birth in 1898. As Emma, of becomes a young woman, her peaceful existence working as a servant at the opulent Trenck’s Castle in Croatia is tainted by the complexities of WWI and a romance, forbidden by class distinction, with Baron Erik Farkas, who is staying there. She later marries a civil clerk who turns out to have a volatile temper. During WWII, her father dies after being tortured, and her brother is killed attempting to escape detention as a POW. Through it all, Emma pines for her true love and endures tragic heartbreak. As chapters move through the seasons with nature’s details setting the stage, “Ballad for Emma,” a violin piece composed by Erik, is a recurring thread linking the central star-crossed lovers.

Raguz offers an emotional drama filled with sacrifices and longings as social and political climates take their toll on the less fortunate and the aristocracy alike. The author’s descriptive writing breathes life into Trenck’s Castle, which becomes an ever-evolving character that transforms from elegance to a monument of decay over the course of the novel…. many will enjoy the story. The heart of this tome is reflected in Emma’s words: “Those who are no longer alive continue to exist as long as they live in our memory.” For those moved by such leanings and who appreciate historical romance, Ballad for Emma should prove a largely engaging read.

Also available in hardcover and ebook.

 

Kirkus Indie Review

BALLAD FOR EMMA

Blanka Raguz

…Historical fiction about a Croatian woman coming-of-age in war-torn Europe.

Raguz (The Labyrinth of Vukovar, 2016) begins this sweeping tale in the early 20th century as a young Jewish woman

discovers that’s she’s become pregnant by her Christian boyfriend. Unable to confess to her family, Bertha Klein runs

away to another Slovenian city and changes her identity. Later, Bertha dies during childbirth, leaving her seamstress

friend, Lucia, to raise baby Emma. Lucia and her husband rear the girl as their own, treating her as kindly as they do

their older sons. But Emma’s peaceful childhood is disrupted when the effects of war and poverty hit her small Croatian

town. After Emma reaches her teenage years, Lucia secures her a job as a maid in a nearly empty castle, and the young

woman dutifully sends her wages back to her family. Eventually, the quiet castle receives long-term guests, including a

handsome young baron, Erik Farkas. Emma and Erik are drawn to each other, but they know that their social status will

prevent any future together. Even so, they enjoy an intense tryst before Erik and his family members depart. Emma is

even more devastated when she discovers that she’s pregnant. As she pines for her lost love, she raises her son,

experiences relationships with other men, and tries to survive war and political strife. In straightforward prose, this story

covers nearly a full century, chronicling historical events in Croatia and Hungary right along with those in Emma’s

personal life. The tale is rich with detail about the intimidation tactics of the Communist regime in Croatia (“If you

omitted something or dared to lie to us, you’ll be held accountable,” one militia man tells Emma), and about the

hopelessness that many everyday people experienced, due in part to mass persecutions…. Overall, though,

Raguz tells an engaging tale that sheds light on its era.

A nostalgic examination of the effects of war, bigotry, and lost opportunities.

Kirkus

Foreword Clarion Review (★★★★) 4 STAR GIVEN BY FOREWORD CLARION

THE LABYRINTH OF VUKOVAR

Blanka Raguz

This beautifully written and complex story follows decades of historical turmoil.

The Labyrinth of Vukovar by Blanka Raguz is a heart-wrenching book that explores love, loss, education,
dreams, and friendship during modern times of war and peace.

This sweeping saga follows Marta Tomic from her childhood through to adulthood. She grows up in
communist Croatia and Yugoslavia, dreaming of a life as an actress in America, until war comes directly to her
doorstep.

Marta is a very well-written character; she is fleshed out with intricacies and depth, and that development
becomes the novel’s best feature. She seems like a typical girl in the beginning, with infatuations and idealistic
dreams of a lavish life in America. But her character evolves in a fluid and natural way; she becomes
an intelligent and insightful woman who no longer sees the world through rose-colored glasses.

The story is surprising and unfamiliar, and it goes in unexpected, unpredictable directions, making it hard to
put down.

Labyrinth of Vukovar is a beautifully written and complex story that follows decades of historical turmoil.

ALLISON BUTLER (May 22, 2017)

 

BlueInk Review

Blanka Raguz’s coming-of-age novel follows protagonist Marta from childhood in Tito’s Yugoslavia through young womanhood in war-torn Croatia and beyond.

As she reaches young adulthood, however, Marta finds herself caught up in more urgent events: the break-up of Yugoslavia and the Croatian people’s fight for independence. She falls in love with Goran, a fellow university student and freedom fighter. As she weathers the harsh conditions of wartime, she must endure terrible loss and rely on her inner strength.

The Labyrinth of Vukovar offers a compelling, relatable protagonist in Marta. From her youthful admiration of Scarlett O’Hara, to her resilience during the war, to her pining for a man who is not nearly as interesting as she is, Marta is both believable and sympathetic.

Overall, this is an engaging novel that should appeal to fans of plot-driven literary fiction, with crossover potential for older teens.

 

Kirkus Indie Review

A young Croatian girl dreams of America in this debut historical novel.

In this book, Raguz tells the story of Marta Tomic, a girl growing up in the Croatian city of Vukovar during the reign of Yugoslavian dictator Josip Tito in the 1970s. Her father loses his job due to his involvement in the Croatian Spring political movement years earlier, and her family is under constant scrutiny because of their Roman Catholic faith and refusal to join the Communist Party. But Marta finds solace in watching American movies and acting in school plays. When she’s chosen to participate in a student exchange program in New York City, she’s overjoyed. She’s even more excited when she meets her host family and finds that the parents have a handsome son, Ian. But even in America, life is not all sunshine and rainbows.

And more conflicts await Marta when she returns to Croatia, as a change in regimes threatens to spark a war between the Communists and the nationalists. Throughout the many changes in her country and her own life, she keeps up her love for and connection to the U.S.—and to one American man in particular—while struggling to cultivate her talent for the theater. The narrative moves along at a quick pace despite the book’s length. Marta makes a sympathetic protagonist, and when she and her loved ones are in danger, it’s easy to care about what happens to them….