PROMISE AT THE SEA, THE

By Vitali Ianko

Written as a fictionalized memoir, this book is narrated by Nargiz, the last survivor and a medium who is devoted and obliged to remembering her lost love ones, sometimes to the point of seeming obsession. Nargiz wavers between the frightened young girl who barely survives the years of Armenian persecution and the sharp, provocative  older woman into which she has mercifully grown. The stories reveal her wise, but taciturn grandmother, a kind and sensitive mother, and a pair of "crazy" uncles, all colorful in their own inimitable ways. Narrator Nargiz also submitted some tasty Armenian recipes as well as several time-honored photographs.

Vantage Press (2004)