Spotlight on Béla’s Letters by Jeff Ingber {Giveaway}

Béla’s Letters by Jeff Ingber
Publication Date: February 18, 2016
Paperback; 596 Pages
ISBN: 978-0985410025

Genre: Historical Fiction



“Béla’s Letters” is a historical fiction novel spanning eight decades. It revolves around the remarkable life story of Béla Ingber, who was born before the onset of WWI in Munkács, a small city nestled in the Carpathian Mountains. The book tells of the struggles of Béla and his extended family to comprehend and prepare for the Holocaust, the implausible circumstances that the survivors endure before reuniting in the New World, and the crushing impact on them of their wartime experiences together with the feelings of guilt, hatred, fear, and abandonment that haunt them. At the core of the novel are the poignant letters and postcards that family members wrote to Béla, undeterred by the feasibility of delivery, which were his lifeline, even decades after the war ended.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

About the Author

Jeff is a financial industry consultant, who previously held senior positions at Citibank, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation. His latest book is “Bela’s Letters,” a family memoir based on his parents, who were survivors of the Hungarian Holocaust. Jeff also has written a screenplay entitled “The Bank Examiners.” He lives with his wife in Jersey City, NJ.

For more information visit Jeff Ingber’s website. You can also connect with him on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

Blog Tour Schedule

Wednesday, May 25
Excerpt at What Is That Book About

Friday, May 27
Spotlight at The Writing Desk
Spotlight at Just One More Chapter

Saturday, May 28
Spotlight at Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus More

Monday, May 30
Excerpt at Diana’s Book Reviews

Friday, June 3
Spotlight at The Never-Ending Book

Spotlight at The True Book Addict

Monday, June 6
Review at Book Nerd

Tuesday, June 7
Guest Post at Let Them Read Books

Wednesday, June 8
Spotlight at A Literary Vacation
Interview at New Horizon Reviews

Thursday, June 9
Guest Post at New Horizon Reviews

Friday, June 10
Review at New Horizon Reviews

Monday, June 13
Review at CelticLady’s Reviews
Spotlight at It’s a Mad Mad World

Tuesday, June 14
Spotlight at The Mad Reviewer

Thursday, June 16
Review at Nerd in New York

Friday, June 17
Spotlight at So Many Books, So Little Time

Tuesday, June 21
Excerpt & Giveaway at Queen of All She Reads

Wednesday, June 22
Review at Bookish

Thursday, June 23
Spotlight at Beth’s Book Nook Blog

Friday, July 1
Review at Svetlana’s Reads and Views

Monday, July 4
Blog Tour Wrap Up at Passages to the Past

Giveaway

To win a copy of Béla’s Letters please enter using the GLEAM form below.

Rules

– Giveaway ends at 11:59pm EST on July 4th. You must be 18 or older to enter.
– Giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY.
– Only one entry per household.
– All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion
– Winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.

Béla's Letters

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HFVBT: Review--Gracianna by Trini Amador #GraciannaTour

My thoughts
I'm having a bit of trouble writing this review. Gracianna is such a powerful and impactful novel, I want to be sure to get it right. I guess I'll start at the beginning with who it all starts...Gracianna herself. What a memorable character! And to know that her character was 'inspired' by the author's grandmother, to know that this person was real, it's just amazing. I have never read a book with a character quite like Gracianna. Strong willed and determined, yet perceptive and loyal, this is a character one never gets tired of reading about. Her story is inspiring, to say the least.

In the story, we also get a terrible look at Nazi occupied France during WWII and even a satellite camp of Auschwitz, the most horrible concentration camp, according to the historical record. Through a series of events, Gracianna's sister is sent to the camp, although she is not a Jew. Gracianna goes above and beyond the call of duty to secure her sister's release. I do not want to go into too much detail because I'll give away the story and it's a very exciting story. I was on the edge of my seat from the middle of the book until the end. I cannot imagine the fear people lived in during the Holocaust. Everyone had to live in fear of the Nazis. This fear was palpable. While reading, I really felt it in my gut.

In the author's afterword, Amador made a good point of why he wanted to tell Gracianna's story:

I wanted to convey my understanding of her values and what they meant to her, and what they took from her and what she gave us. I believe these values were always on her mind, never far from her always-moist, pursed lips and French-accented thoughts. I wanted to understand her values and convictions and compare them to now-values, and I wondered, "What might today's generation believe in so strongly that it would cause them to act so desperately...What is it that is so important that each of us would act upon it, based on our values, beliefs, and attitudes today?"

This was a good point because I found myself wondering what I would do in a similar situation. It really is hard to imagine having to live through those times.

These stories are important because we must never forget what happened in WWII. How many people died...were killed....because they were different. This must never be allowed to happen in our society again. Would that everyone in the world had the character and moral fortitude of Gracianna. The world would be a better place indeed.

Gracianna is simply a must-read.

About the book
Publication Date: July 23, 2013
Greenleaf Book Group Press
Hardcover; 296p
ISBN-10: 1608325709

The gripping story of Gracianna--a French-Basque girl forced to make impossible decisions after being recruited into the French Resistance in Nazi-occupied Paris.

Gracianna is inspired by true events in the life of Trini Amador's great-grandmother, Gracianna Lasaga. As an adult, Amador was haunted by the vivid memory of finding a loaded German Luger tucked away in a nightstand while wandering his great-grandmother's home in Southern California. He was only four years old at the time, but the memory remained and he knew he had to explore the story behind the gun.

Decades later, Amador would delve into the remarkable odyssey of his Gracianna's past, a road that led him to an incredible surprise. In Gracianna, Amador weaves fact and fiction to tell his great-grandmother's story.

Gracianna bravely sets off to Paris in the early 1940s--on her way to America, she hopes--but is soon swept into the escalation of the war and the Nazi occupation of Paris. After chilling life-and-death struggles, she discovers that her missing sister has surfaced as a laborer in Auschwitz. When she finds an opportunity to fight back against the Nazis to try to free her sister, she takes it--even if it means using lethal force.

As Amador tells the imagined story of how his great-grandmother risked it all, he delivers richly drawn characters and a heart-wrenching page-turner that readers won't soon forget.

Praise for Gracianna
"Gracianna is a riveting and remarkable narrative. The characters come alive through their unassuming but compelling stories, as Nazi-occupied Paris unfolds before our eyes. We come to care deeply about the characters, which makes putting down the book almost impossible. Highly recommended." - Stacey Katz Bourns, Director of Language Programs, Dept. of Romance Languages and Literatures, Harvard University

“While wine is obviously a significant part of life’s enjoyment, the story behind the wine can be even more gratifying. You will be fixated on this thrilling story written by Trini Amador which was inspired by Gracianna, his great-grandmother, the French Basque namesake of his family’s award-winning winery in Sonoma County.” - Bob Cabral, Director of Winemaking & General Manager, Williams Selyem Winery

About the author
Trini Amador vividly remembers the day he found a loaded German Luger tucked away in a nightstand while wandering through his great-grandmother’s home in Southern California. He was only four years old at the time, but the memory remained and he knew he had to explore the story behind the gun. This experience sparked a journey towards Gracianna, Amador’s debut novel, inspired by true events and weaving reality with imagination. It's a tale drawing from real-life family experiences.

Mr. Amador is a traveled global marketing "insighter.” He is a sought-after guru teaching multinational brand marketers to understand how customer and consumer segments behave based on their needs, values, motivations, feeling and values. He has trained over five thousand brand marketers on how to grow brands in over 20 countries in the last 15 years. His counseling has been valued at global brands including General Electric, Microsoft, AT&T, Yahoo!, Sun Microsystems, Google, Jack Daniel’s, The J.M. Smucker Co., DuPont, Mattel, and Rodale, Inc..

Amador is also a founding partner with his wife and children of Gracianna Winery, an award-winning winery located in Healdsburg, California. The winery also pays tribute to the Amador Family’s maternal grandmother, Gracianna Lasaga. Her message of being thankful lives on through them. The Gracianna winery strives to keep Gracianna’s gratitude alive through their wine. Learn more at: www.gracianna.com, like Gracianna Winery on Facebook or follow them on Twitter @GraciannaWinery.

Amador resides in Sonoma County with his family.

Visit other blogs on the tour--Tour Schedule
Twitter Hashtag: #GraciannaTour

Check out the author's guest post and enter the giveaway HERE.

*A copy of this book was sent to me in exchange for an honest review. I was not monetarily compensated for providing it.

HFVBT: Gracianna by Trini Amador--Guest Post and {Giveaway} #GraciannaTour

GIVEAWAY WINNER--EMMA

The Photos Story

Gracianna was my great-grandmother and when I was a child she used to talk a lot about being thankful. “Grateful?” Who talks to a four year old about that concept? Later in life I began linking shreds of stories I had been told with my own my beliefs to a jolting incident of being found walking around her house at four years old with a loaded German Luger. Suddenly, fifty years had gone by and it was time to tell the story about how that Luger came to be in my boy-hand. As a brand marketing executive that owns his own business I travel a lot. In the last few years I have put in over 750,000 miles worldwide and took advantage of that flying time by writing.

I live in Sonoma County, California where my family owns the lauded Gracianna Winery in the Russian River Valley but nearly all of my marketing work is outside the US. I wrote Gracianna in over thirteen countries! Folks have asked me about the photos in the book and I thought I’d spend some time with you telling you the inside story on where they came from. Gracianna took eight months to write but nearly two years editing with the talented Hillel Black, who has edited over 20 New York Times best sellers, and who gave Gracianna its wonderful tempo and grace notes.

Photos were sourced from World War II archives—it was obvious, once I saw each one of them which ones needed to be in the book. Below are some photos that are in the book with a brief description.

The owner of several of the archive images is a collector of World War two imagery from the United Kingdom. This candid photo of the German officers I found chilling for its realistic depiction of a field meeting—the casualness of the moment captured my attention. 

But there is one that got away. The photo of the 1936 Hispano Pourtout that Dom’, the owner of La Maison Cossette, cherished was impossible to source. In this day and age, my opinion is that with the internet folks are a lot less sensitive about using images that don’t belong to them. We searched and searched to be able to publish this photo with all the right permissions for commercial use but alas were unable to demonstrate the sweeping beauty of this sleek automobile as I introduce it sliding through the wet streets of Paris on the important flashpoint night of the Gracianna story. I add a link to it here however. This is the one that got away. 

The 1936 Hispano Pourtout: 

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hispano_1936_Pourtout.jpg

Recently, I was asked about my photos of Auschwitz. Here is how that came to be. At one point my business took me to Warsaw, Poland. I was writing the book during this business visit as well. For some reason it had not occurred to me to extend my research to Krakow and Auschwitz on that trip. But that ended when I was tackled by the bitter cold Polish air as it overwhelmed me when the door of the plane opened. I was traveling from South America and inconveniently left my winter coat in California. The burst of cold enveloped me. The thought of my grandmother’s sister (or anyone) withstanding that sort of cold in a concentration camp drew me to Auschwitz. I needed to see where she had been. I took hundreds of photos while I was there but have been unable to look at them since. 

It was gray that day. I was numb already after walking in the camp for only 10 minutes. I was on a tour but loosely followed the group, in a daze really. I heard the stories from the guide from 20 paces back my mind racing backward in time and trying to rationalize what had happened here with the present day. My chest was as heavy as the solid air. My heart weighed low. My eyes teared. Several of my Auschwitz photos were chosen by the producer of the Gracianna book video trailer that accompanies this posting. Have a look and let me know if these photos convey the starkness of my visit. 

Lastly was Gracianna herself. I have no photos of her during the war. But I have been told she was pretty with her flowing white hair.

Link to book video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFDUqBbQttA&feature=youtu.be

If you have any questions or want to know more inside stories about the book just contact me—I would enjoy hearing from you. Trini.Amador3@Gracianna.net

About the book
Publication Date: July 23, 2013
Greenleaf Book Group Press
Hardcover; 296p
ISBN-10: 1608325709

The gripping story of Gracianna--a French-Basque girl forced to make impossible decisions after being recruited into the French Resistance in Nazi-occupied Paris.

Gracianna is inspired by true events in the life of Trini Amador's great-grandmother, Gracianna Lasaga. As an adult, Amador was haunted by the vivid memory of finding a loaded German Luger tucked away in a nightstand while wandering his great-grandmother's home in Southern California. He was only four years old at the time, but the memory remained and he knew he had to explore the story behind the gun.

Decades later, Amador would delve into the remarkable odyssey of his Gracianna's past, a road that led him to an incredible surprise. In Gracianna, Amador weaves fact and fiction to tell his great-grandmother's story.

Gracianna bravely sets off to Paris in the early 1940s--on her way to America, she hopes--but is soon swept into the escalation of the war and the Nazi occupation of Paris. After chilling life-and-death struggles, she discovers that her missing sister has surfaced as a laborer in Auschwitz. When she finds an opportunity to fight back against the Nazis to try to free her sister, she takes it--even if it means using lethal force.

As Amador tells the imagined story of how his great-grandmother risked it all, he delivers richly drawn characters and a heart-wrenching page-turner that readers won't soon forget.

Praise for Gracianna
"Gracianna is a riveting and remarkable narrative. The characters come alive through their unassuming but compelling stories, as Nazi-occupied Paris unfolds before our eyes. We come to care deeply about the characters, which makes putting down the book almost impossible. Highly recommended." - Stacey Katz Bourns, Director of Language Programs, Dept. of Romance Languages and Literatures, Harvard University

“While wine is obviously a significant part of life’s enjoyment, the story behind the wine can be even more gratifying. You will be fixated on this thrilling story written by Trini Amador which was inspired by Gracianna, his great-grandmother, the French Basque namesake of his family’s award-winning winery in Sonoma County.” - Bob Cabral, Director of Winemaking & General Manager, Williams Selyem Winery

About the author

Trini Amador vividly remembers the day he found a loaded German Luger tucked away in a nightstand while wandering through his great-grandmother’s home in Southern California. He was only four years old at the time, but the memory remained and he knew he had to explore the story behind the gun. This experience sparked a journey towards Gracianna, Amador’s debut novel, inspired by true events and weaving reality with imagination. It's a tale drawing from real-life family experiences.

Mr. Amador is a traveled global marketing "insighter.” He is a sought-after guru teaching multinational brand marketers to understand how customer and consumer segments behave based on their needs, values, motivations, feeling and values. He has trained over five thousand brand marketers on how to grow brands in over 20 countries in the last 15 years. His counseling has been valued at global brands including General Electric, Microsoft, AT&T, Yahoo!, Sun Microsystems, Google, Jack Daniel’s, The J.M. Smucker Co., DuPont, Mattel, and Rodale, Inc..

Amador is also a founding partner with his wife and children of Gracianna Winery, an award-winning winery located in Healdsburg, California. The winery also pays tribute to the Amador Family’s maternal grandmother, Gracianna Lasaga. Her message of being thankful lives on through them. The Gracianna winery strives to keep Gracianna’s gratitude alive through their wine. Learn more at: www.gracianna.com, like Gracianna Winery on Facebook or follow them on Twitter @GraciannaWinery.

Amador resides in Sonoma County with his family.

Visit other blogs on the tour--Tour Schedule
Twitter Hashtag: #GraciannaTour

Watch for my review of Gracianna...coming tomorrow!

GIVEAWAY:

One copy of Gracianna to a winner in the U.S./Canada. Please leave a comment and be sure to leave a way for me to contact you if you win (email address, Twitter handle, etc). Last day to enter is Wednesday, August 14 at 11:59pm CST. Good luck!