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Random Acts Of Heroic Love: The Heartbreaking Richard and Judy Bestseller Paperback – 1 Jan. 2008
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THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
A BESTSELLING RICHARD AND JUDY BOOKCLUB PICK
SHORTLISTED FOR THE DESMOND ELLIOTT PRIZE
SHORTLISTED FOR THE AUTHOR'S CLUB BEST FIRST NOVEL AWARD
'A lush, romantic novel' Daily Mail
1992: Leo Deakin wakes up in a hospital somewhere in South America, his girlfriend Eleni is dead and Leo doesn't know where he is or how Eleni died. He blames himself for the tragedy and is sucked into a spiral of despair. But Leo is about to discover something which will change his life forever.
1917: Moritz Daniecki is a fugitive from a Siberian POW camp. Seven thousand kilometres over the Russian Steppes separate him from his village and his sweetheart, whose memory has kept him alive through carnage and captivity. The Great War may be over, but Moritz now faces a perilous journey across a continent riven by civil war. When Moritz finally limps back into his village to claim the hand of the woman he left behind, will she still be waiting?
'Special' Sunday Express
'Tender' Observer
'Mesmerising' Publishing News
- Print length432 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherBlack Swan
- Publication date1 Jan. 2008
- Dimensions12.6 x 2.6 x 19.8 cm
- ISBN-100552774227
- ISBN-13978-0552774222
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Two strikingly different tales of love and grief are gradually revealed to have more in common than just the tenactiy of both men to cling desperately to the memory of love... a lush, romantic novel ― Daily Mail
Really is as special as its press suggests... beautifully told... an amazingly assured debut ― Sunday Express
This riveting novel is an unforgettable tale of two men sustained by love in times of conflict ― The Lady
A tour de force... mesmerizing ― Publishing News
From the Back Cover
Two stories of loss
One great emotional journey
1992: Leo Deakin wakes up in hospital somewhere in South America. His girlfriend Eleni is dead and Leo doesn t know where he is or how she died. He blames himself for the tragedy and is sucked into a spiral of despair. But Leo is about to discover something that will change his life for ever.
1917: Moritz Daniecki has survived fighting in the Great War. But at what cost? Abandoned in the Siberian wilderness, he is determined to return to his beloved Lotte, the memory of whose single kiss has sustained him throughout the war. What lies before him is a terrifying journey over the Russian Steppes. If he ever makes it, will she still be waiting?
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Product details
- Publisher : Black Swan; 1st Black Swan Edition (1 Jan. 2008)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 432 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0552774227
- ISBN-13 : 978-0552774222
- Dimensions : 12.6 x 2.6 x 19.8 cm
- Best Sellers Rank: 481,573 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 695 in Holocaust Biographies
- 11,092 in War Story Fiction
- 28,049 in Adventure Stories & Action
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But for me, it is the transcendial comments on quantum physics that bring comfort to the young man Leo whose girlfriend Eleni was killed in a road accident that really move the book into a totally different plane.
The idea that if two particles have kissed, then for all time, even if they are thousands of miles apart, one the one spins to the right, so does the other takes us into a different dimension on the power of love.
Do read it for yourselves :- )
In the story of Moritz we follow his path home via Siberia to see his first love Lotte.
Interspersed within this book are pages from Leos notebook which has excerpts from the animal world, one poignant page covers the grief elephants show towards their mate or family members.
An excellent first novel- I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good read.
On the other hand I found the story of Moritz and his love for Lotte extraordinary and very moving. To learn that it was actually partly true seemed unbelievable.That a young man who had gone to fight the Russians during the first world war and who had been captured and sent to a camp in Siberia could actually find the strength and determination to walk back to his hometown because he wanted to be reunited to the girl he loved defies imagination. That he went on with it and that it took him three years to achieve his goal, that he never lost faith and that he survived the ordeal is stupendous.That part of the book is really worth reading. What a pity the other part spoils the book!
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Der junge Galizier Moritz Daniecki hat allen Widerständen zum Trotz den Ersten Weltkrieg überlebt. Als Gefangener in einem Lager in Sibirien hält ihn nur die Erinnerung an seine geliebte Lotte aufrecht, die versprochen hat, auf ihn zu warten. Im Jahr 1917 nimmt er sein Schicksal in die Hand und flieht aus dem Lager. Sein Weg führt ihn quer durch Russland und sein Ziel ist Lotte. Aber kann es nach all den Jahren der Trennung ein Wiedersehen geben?
Danny Scheinmann erzählt in RANDOM ACTS OF HEROIC LOVE die Geschichten von Leo und Moritz, die eng miteinander verbunden sind, wie sich schließlich am Ende des Romans zeigt.
Beide Männer leben für die Liebe. Während für Leo alle Hoffnungen zerschmettert sind, ist bei Moritz Hoffnung das Einzige, das ihn noch auf den Beinen hält. Leos Geschichte erscheint unter diesem Vorzeichen trostloser als die von Moritz. Seine Trauer ist allumfassend und Scheinmann zeigt meiner Meinung nach realistisch, wie Leo mit seinem Schmerz umgeht. Er suhlt sich in Selbstmitleid, zerfleischt sich vor Schuldgefühlen, fühlt sich von Freunden und Familie unverstanden, isoliert sich von ihnen und beneidet sie um ihr vermeintliches Glück und wo er auch geht und steht sucht er nach Spuren von Eleni.
Moritz übersteht Jahre des Kriegs, des Hungers und der Angst und sein einziges Ziel ist es, mit Lotte vereint zu sein. Scheinmann geht bei den Beschreibungen des Ersten Weltkriegs und der darauf folgenden Flucht nicht besonders ins Detail und schildert strikt aus der Sicht des einfachen Frontsoldaten, dennoch ist Moritz' Grauen nachvollziehbar und die Ereignisse sind plastisch dargestellt. Moritz selbst ist ein Träumer und Idealist und erst kurz vor der Heimat kommen ihm erste Zweifel an seinem Plan. Hat Lotte auf ihn gewartet? Ist sie verheiratet? Ist sie überhaupt noch am Leben?
RANDOM ACTS OF HEROIC LOVE ist in erster Linie ein Liebesroman. Obwohl der Handlungsstrang rund um Moritz von Danny Scheinmanns Großvater inspiriert wurde und biografisch ist, liegt der Hauptfokus nicht auf den historischen Geschehnissen sondern auf dem Thema Liebe und was man aus Liebe zu tun bereit ist.