Small World is a collection of short stories, some true, some not-so-true, plus some poems by Olga Harkness.
Some tales of her childhood will make you cry, such as the account of Olga’s last ever Christmas in Ukraine, or her older brother’s secret midnight visit just before he was arrested and sent to Siberia. And the heart-breaking story of Nightingale, the teenage partisan boy with a heavenly voice, who serenaded five-year-old Olga the evening before he was caught and executed by the Polish Army. But there’s plenty of quirky humour too, such as an account of the village flasher, whose habit was cured by stinging nettles, Ladybird the hooligan cow, the man who was killed by a chicken, a talking cat and a spider with clever ideas of revenge.
Like life, these stories are as varied as they are original, and paint pictures of family life in a bygone age in a troubled country and the twists of fate that can shape a life. Most of all they illustrate how, even in the darkest adversity, there is always a way to raise a smile.
We’re very, very pleased with the amazing work Author Packages have done on this book. From the superb cover to the perfectly formatted interior, the book looks better than we could have imagined. And we already knew how good their work is. Thanks, AP!
