Elizabeth Lenci-Downs: Thank you. It was an exciting book to write—"I Heard My People Cry" took five years to research and write devoted to an historical background of Russia from the long rule of Swedish Vikings to the death of Stalin in 1953. During a careful review of W.W.II, I plotted daily army locations on maps.

Russian classics and secreted diaries from Lise's family provided valuable historical settings, as did the writings of Aleksander I. Solzhenitsyn who is quoted. Photographs, books, poetry, maps, words of encouragement flowed in from unknown sources including one doctoral dissertation from Canada.

This full interview may be viewed on: www.BooksandAuthors.net

Review by Writer's Digtest:

"The book contains some especially powerful images: What impressed me the most: the heartfelt emotions that come through in the writing...just riveting. The time span the book covers also is impressive, detailing the first half of the 20th century in Russia and Europe, touching the overall political situation while also looking at the very personal stories of a family being pulled along by the tidal wave of history unfolding around it. The photos and maps add wonderfully to the story, bringing faces to the characters and perspective to the places discussed. This is truly an epic work, congratulations." —Writer's Digest.

Written as a narrative, this is a true story of this period in history when thousands in the Ukraine and Crimea were forced to escape from Stalin's Russia. The author tells it like it was, exposing the myth and propaganda used to cover up what really happened. The book is full of the life of the times, the inescapable resolution to survive and a passion for freedom. It is told entirely through the lives and actions of the people of Tchongraw, Crimea and Lise Huebert Toews Gerig who escaped in their midst.

It employs daily journals from 1917 to 1945 and Lise's words about her spellbinding childhood. Lise's father, Nikolai, urges his pregnant wife to flee Russia, promising that he will find her. One hundred and seventy people of Tchongraw refuse to leave anyone behind and march through the Ukraine singing forbidden hymns. Events are detailed as they affect individual members of Lise's people whose personalities, and the cultures that surround them, bring home the reality of their struggle...

Review: Dr. Karla C. Shippey
Approved Speaker / Stonecroft Ministries:
Law Offices of Karla C. Shippey, JD., Yorba Linda, CA

"Set in Eurasian history, this remarkable story of faith, courage, perseverance and love could easily happen again and is happening today. A mother's love and determination, a child's lost innocence, a tale of harrowing survival. What should never have occurred is as fresh today as it was then. I couldn't put down I Heard My People Cry the first time. I continue to pick up my favorite parts to read them over and over as a source and basis for my own faith. The words are so clear, the vision so real."

Review: Stonecroft Ministries, Stonecroft Book & Media Ministries
P.O.Box 9969 Kansas City, MO, June 27, 2003.

Dear Elizabeth, Thank you for sending the review copies of your book, I Heard My People Cry, for our inspection. If you would like to give your business cards or even order forms to persons at Stonecroft sponsored events that will be fine. Thank you and God bless, Donald D. Ensign, Supervisor Stonecroft Ministries.