by Amy Sorrells
Learning of my significant Jewish heritage compounded my adoration for the plight of the people of Ukraine, and I was compelled to write a story that not only reflects the deep pain and struggles within the region, but also the ways in which Yahweh is with us throughout all of our sojourns: Jehovah-Shammah. Indeed, there is no place where we can flee from His glorious love, grace, and presence (Psalm 139).
In addition to writing from a Jewish perspective, for some time I have wanted to incorporate the work of a lapidarist into a novel. All my life, my grandfather brought his shiny rock and mineral creations with him on his visits to our home. The brilliant gemstones and cabochons—as well as his lengthy stories of what each stone was made of and where he found it, and the details of gemstone conventions he attended—mesmerized me. The metaphor of a rough and unsightly rock or mineral being faceted and polished into something beautiful, and how Yahweh does the same thing with us is one that never grows old or cliché to me.
The third inspiration for this story was my work as a registered nurse on a busy medical unit where I currently care for aging patients every week. I see how families struggle with end-of-life care decisions, and how exhausting and discouraging the process can be for everyone involved. When an elderly person suffers a fall as the protagonist, Jakob, did in this story, that often sets off a cascade of difficult decisions and recovery processes. But this season of life is not without hope—far from it. While some of the elderly patients I care for have succumbed completely to dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, a good number of them have minds still as sharp as yours and mine. They love to tell stories about their youth, how they met and courted their spouses, the war years, you name it. They love to tell stories about their lives. And we are wise to listen.
For more information about some of the unique themes and background inspiration for Then Sings My Soul, visit: www.AmySorrells.wordpress.com/Then-Sings-My-Soul
NOTES
Prologue
1.Small Jewish towns or villages formerly found in Eastern Europe.
2.“The Pale of Settlement … was the term given to a region of Imperial Russia in which permanent residency by Jews was allowed and beyond which Jewish permanent residency was generally prohibited. It extended from the eastern pale, or demarcation line, to the western Russian border with the Kingdom of Prussia (later the German Empire) and with Austria-Hungary.… It included much of present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Poland, Moldova, Ukraine, and parts of western Russia.… Jews were [also] excluded from residency at a number of cities within the Pale, while a limited number of categories of Jews were allowed to live outside it. With its large Catholic and Jewish populations, the Pale was acquired by the Russian Empire (which was majority Russian Orthodox) in a series of military conquests and diplomatic maneuvers between 1791 and 1835, and lasted until the fall of the Russian Empire in 1917.… Because of the harsh conditions of day-to-day life in the Pale, some 2 million Jews emigrated from there between 1881 and 1914, mainly to the United States” (Wikipedia, s.v. “Pale of Settlement,” last modified September 17, 2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pale_of_Settlement).
3.Traditional Ukrainian fur coat.
Chapter 3
1.“Holodomor Facts and History,” Holodomorct.org, accessed September 20, 2014, www.holodomorct.org/history.html.
Chapter 8
1.Ecclesiastes 1:18.
Chapter 9
1.Fringe tassels tied to a small cloak worn under a shirt.
2.A stylus used to achieve the design on the painted wooden eggs.
3.Traditional colored eggs of Ukraine, made by some Jewish children for Passover and Orthodox families for Easter.
Chapter 13
1.Traditional embroidered Ukrainian shirt.
2.Traditional Russian felt boots.
Chapter 21
1.Luke 12:7 NKJV.
Chapter 24
1.Traditional Jewish prayer said during times of mourning.
Chapter 27
1.Ecclesiastes 1:5.
2.Ecclesiastes 1:2.
Chapter 30
1.Small cloak worn under a shirt and on which the fringe tassels called tzitzit are tied.
ABOUT THE TITLE AND COVER
When I converse with readers, a common question is how book titles and cover designs are determined. For my first novel, How Sweet the Sound, lyrics to the song “Amazing Grace” appear in one of the chapters. Not only is it one of my favorite hymns, but the phrase “how sweet the sound” made the editor and me misty-eyed enough to know it was destined to be the title of that book.
Then Sings My Soul was a bit more of a challenge. Although it is a phrase from “How Great Thou Art”—also one of my favorite hymns—I was hesitant to use it because there isn’t much reference to the actual song within this novel. However, I believe it truly captures the theme of the novel. Moreover, once I heard the story behind the hymn, I knew “Then Sings My Soul” had to be the title. Stuart Hine, an English missionary to Ukraine, stumbled upon the Russian text for “How Great Thou Art” and translated it into English. His travels and missionary work across Eastern Europe, and the beauty of the Carpathian Mountains, prompted him to write the hymn’s fourth and final stanza. Indeed, the entire hymn speaks to the steadfast, enduring beauty of God and His faithfulness to us throughout the ages—a truth that Jakob eventually realizes.
All of the credit for cover design goes to the amazing graphic artists at David C Cook. However, Then Sings My Soul was a bit unique. The designers came up with the cover pretty much as it appears here, but initially they didn’t know where they would be able to find a usable graphic for the blue gemstone. Although I had access to the thousands of gemstones faceted by my grandfather, the stone featured on the cover was discovered in a plastic bag tucked in a corner of a manila file folder that was stuffed in a binder full of faceting designs. The only reason the folder even caught my eye was because it was marked “Star of David,” which of course was a wonderfully perfect match for this story.
The actual Star of David stone my grandfather designed and faceted appears on the cover.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Amy, an Indianapolis native and graduate of DePauw University, lives in central Indiana with her husband, her three boys, and a gaggle of golden retrievers.
After writing and editing for her college newspaper, Amy combined the knowledge from her nursing degree with journalism and creative writing. This unique combination of skills led to her editing and publishing a wide array of medical and nursing multimedia and writing projects over the past twenty-one years, including a weekly column for a local newspaper.
Amy has since become a two-time semifinalist for the ACFW Genesis Awards and the winner of the 2011 Women of Faith writing contest.
When she’s not reading or writing, Amy enjoys spending time with her husband and three sons, walking her dogs, digging in her garden sans gloves, and up-cycling old junk.
SUGGESTED FOR FURTHER READING
A lot of research went into this novel, and like me, you might be interested in reading more about some of the themes in this book. Listed below are the names of books that I found to be both helpful and interesting.
Eastern European/Ukrainian History
•The Golden Age Shtetl: A New History of Jewish Life in East Europe by Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern
•Wonder of Wonders: A Cultural History of Fiddler on the Roof by Alisa Solomon
•Borderland: A Journey Through the History of Ukraine by Anna Reid
•Forgotten Fire by Adam Bagdasarian
•The Chosen by Chaim Potok
•Erased: Vanishing Traces of Jewish Galicia in Present-Day Ukraine by Omer Bartov
Lapidary Arts
•Gem Cutting: A Lapidary’s Manual 2nd edition, by John Sinkankas
•Smithsonian Handbooks: Rocks and Minerals by Chris Pellant
Aging and Dementia
•Still Alice by Lisa Genova
•No Act of Love Is Ever Wasted: The Spirituality of Caring for Persons with Dementia by Jane Marie Thibault and Richard L. Morgan
•Not Alone: Encouragement for Caregivers by Nell E. Noonan
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To all those who made this book what it is through your support, encouragement, patience, wisdom, and expertise: Sarah Freese, who did triple duty as my agent, editor, and therapist for this project; Nicci Jordan Hubert and Jennifer Lonas for your incredible, patient (but fierce!) editing and encouragement; and to Don Pape and John Blase for the chance to write this book in the first place. And to all the professionals at David C Cook for making it happen.
To Robert Vukovich and his assistant, Mary, for spending an entire evening capturing the photograph of my grandfather’s gemstone for this cover.
To Sergei Marchenko, for early read-throughs and gracious help with the Ukrainian language elements, and to Becky Gluff, also for help with the Ukrainian language.
To Jon Lieberman, for your time and invaluable input into the Jewish aspects of this story, and for encouraging me to research my Ukrainian family history.
To Dr. Ken Ney and Jill Kendrat and everyone who helped me travel to Zhytomyr and Chudniv, Ukraine, in January 2013, thank you for not taking no for an answer! And to all the people of Mission to Ukraine (www.missiontoukraine.org) on both sides of the Atlantic: я тебе люблю.
To Pastor Peter Levchenko for your legacy of unwavering faith in the midst of dark and seemingly unreachable places. I miss your smile and laughter.
To Peter Predchuk—I can’t wait to see you running in heaven.
To Grandpa Joe, whose hard work and storytelling “faceted” my life.
To my great-great-grandparents, who survived and escaped the pogroms so that your children, and now my children, could live freely.
And to Scott, Tucker, Charlie, and Isaac: my soul sings because of each of you.
THEN SINGS MY SOUL
Published by David C Cook
4050 Lee Vance View
Colorado Springs, CO 80918 U.S.A.
David C Cook Distribution Canada
55 Woodslee Avenue, Paris, Ontario, Canada N3L 3E5
David C Cook U.K., Kingsway Communications
Eastbourne, East Sussex BN23 6NT, England
The graphic circle C logo is a registered trademark of David C Cook.
All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for review purposes,
no part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form
without written permission from the publisher.
This story is a work of fiction. Characters and events are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead, is coincidental.
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
LCCN 2014948815
ISBN 978-1-4347-0545-7
eISBN 978-1-4347-0893-9
© 2015 Amy Sorrells
The author is represented by and this book is published in association with the
literary agency of WordServe Literary Group, Ltd., www.wordserveliterary.com.
The Team: John Blase, Nicci Hubert, Amy Konyndyk, Nick Lee, Jennifer Lonas, Tiffany Thomas, Karen Athen
Cover Design: Faceout Studio, Emily Weigel
Cover Photos: Shutterstock and Robert J. Vukovich (stone photo)
First Edition 2015
Photo by Christie Turnbull
Amy K. Sorrells, the award-winning author of the novel How Sweet the Sound, writes about the healing of broken places in the world and the heart. Her passion is reflected in her work as a registered nurse as well as through her poetry and prose. Amy lives with her husband and three sons in central Indiana.
Visit DCCeBooks.com for more great reads.
What people are saying about …
THEN SINGS MY SOUL
“Amy K. Sorrells struck gold with this timeless story of love, loss, and the beautiful bond of family. I was spellbound as the story mixed history with redemption that comes when we run to the Father.”
Kariss Lynch, author of Shaken and Shadowed
“I really enjoyed Then Sings My Soul. It brought to light a little-known and well-hidden period of Ukraine’s troubled history. Amy does a great job interweaving the stories of the Stewart family, especially Nel’s and Jakob’s broken past, and showing how God can redeem even the most broken of hearts.”
Ken Ney, MD, board president of Mission to Ukraine
Praise for …
AMY K. SORRELLS
“Sorrells’s words effortlessly rise from the page with a cadence that is remarkably brave and wildly beautiful.”
Toni Birdsong, author of More than a Bucket List
“Amy Sorrells will break your heart and piece it back twice its size.”
Billy Coffey, author of When Mockingbirds Sing
“Amy Sorrells weaves an engaging tale in stunningly beautiful lyrical prose. If you are a fan of women’s fiction, don’t miss this fresh new voice.”
Jordyn Redwood, author of the Bloodline Trilogy
“This beautifully well-written book offers hope and healing from tragedy and brokenness.”
Birdie Gunyon Meyer, RN, MA, coordinator of the Perinatal Mood Disorders Program at Indiana University Health
“Amy K. Sorrells has a lyrical voice that immediately draws you into the complex lives of captivating characters and a powerful tale that will leave you breathless. This is one of those stories that will continue to live on in a reader’s mind long after turning the last page.”
Tina Ann Forkner, author of Rose House
“Evocative, brutal, yet redemptive, it forces you to think long and hard about difficult subjects and pain, but it leaves you with the hope of grace and mercy. Thanks, Amy, for taking me there.”
Dave Rodriguez, senior pastor of Grace Church, Noblesville, Indiana
“With poetic prose, lyrical descriptions, and sensory details that bring the reader deep into every scene, Amy K. Sorrells has delivered ... In the end comes redemption, grace, forgiveness, and faith, but not without a few scars carried by those who manage to survive the wrath of hardened hearts. Bravo!”
Julie Cantrell, New York Times bestselling author of Into the Free and When Mountains Move
“I appreciate the author’s understanding of trauma as she writes—addressing the level of courage necessary to heal from deep hurts, while at the same time taking great care in gently sharing character experiences throughout her novel. [She] draws readers into another world—a unique time and place where pain and trauma can feel all too relatable—but where readers themselves can taste the same comfort and hope that’s woven into this beautiful story.”
Nicole Bromley, author of Hush and Breathe and founder of OneVOICE
“Author Amy Sorrells writes with tenderness, grace, and the heartbroken voice of experience.”
Lori Borgman, columnist for McClatchy-Tribune, author of The Death of Common Sense, and national speaker
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