Mary Grabar

Ph.D. English

www.marygrabar.com

Katarina Tepesh's harrowing and engagingly straightforward account of her family history in communist Yugoslavia and then in the United States after fleeing an abusive and alcoholic father in 1968 should be added to the shelf of memoirs of such family legacy, both for the new information it adds, as well as for the story it continues to tell... READ FULL REVIEW

Reviewed by Peter F. Eder

Senior Editor, The HUB Magazine

Contributing Editor, The Futurist Magazine

Katarina Tepesh has written a book with a candor often absent in a biography. She presents personal hardships and tragedies – never in a pitying way – in a fashion that offers insights, and underscores the grit and determination of the author, her mother and her siblings.

Woven through a vivid picture of former Yugoslavia during and after World War II – in the harsh and desperate conditions imposed by Russia’s Communism in Eastern Europe- is the story of a family’s personal struggles... READ FULL REVIEW

Reviewed by Julienne Eden Busic

author of "Lovers and Madmen", Gray Sunshine Press

Salvation as a literary theme has been a constant throughout the centuries, often coupled with what many consider its existential opposite, suffering. From Dostojevsky and Shakespeare, to the Bible and even J.R.R. Tolkien, suffering and salvation have been the waters into which many a writerly soul has plunged... READ FULL REVIEW

"Escape from Despair: A Croatian Family’s Survival" is a memoir, set among Croatia's working-class during the communist era. This brutal and complex story depicts lives hemmed in by poverty and sexual abuse.

Bozena, an obedient, religious wife and her husband, Ivan, a violent alcoholic, struggle to survive with six children under the dictatorship of former Communist Yugoslavia. Dealing with hunger and sickness as part of their daily life, the children and Bozena manage to escape from Ivan. Unable to find a job and to make ends meet on a minimal income, the family is forced to deal with the black market and to escape from their bureaucratic country.

Thrilled and deeply grateful to finally reach America, the family has difficulty coping with the trauma of their past.

The author, Katarina Tepesh, is one of the six children.