<p/><br></br><p><b> About the Book </b></p></br></br>Soon after her husband volunteers for the Tsar's army, a Ukrainian farm wife and her six children flee from the invading Germans only to face the trials of a refugee camp, typhus, unimaginable losses and her daughter's forbidden love. .<p/><br></br><p><b> Book Synopsis </b></p></br></br><p><strong>A finalist for the 2019 Whistler Independent Book Awards in fiction and semi-finalist for 2019 Kindle Book Awards, literary fiction. </strong></p><p>In this family saga, love and loss are bound together by a country always at war.</p><p>In 1915, Lukia Mazurets, a Ukrainian farmwife, delivers her eighth child while her husband is serving in the Tsar's army. Soon after, she and her children are forced to flee the invading Germans. Over the next fourteen years, Lukia must rely on her wits and faith to survive life in a refugee camp, the ravages of a typhus epidemic, the Bolshevik revolution, unimaginable losses, and one daughter's forbidden love.</p><p><em><strong>Sunflowers Under Fire</strong></em> is a heartbreakingly intimate novel that illuminates the strength of the human spirit. Based on the true stories of her grandmother's ordeals, author Diana Stevan captures the voices of those who had little say in a country that is still being fought over.</p><p> </p><p/><br></br><p><b> Review Quotes </b></p></br></br><br><p><strong>Incident after incident, character after character, I was carried into worlds</strong> - from hardscrabble village life to wartime detention camps to ancient peasant rituals, not to mention intimacies of family life - that opened up in this page-turner of a novel.</p><p><strong> Myrna Kostash, author of <em>All of Baba's Children</em>.</strong></p><p>This is <strong>a compelling and beautifully told tale of endurance and faith</strong>. Lukia's arduous journey with her children is a true story of the little-known Ukrainian diaspora. Gripping, illuminating, and personal, this story is a must-read.</p><p> <strong>Martha Conway, author of <em>The Underground River</em></strong></p><p><strong>A skilled storyteller, with an eye for detail</strong> and the ability to draw readers in with compelling characters and page-turning plots.</p><p><strong> Lorraine Devon Wilke, author of <em>The Alchemy of Noise</em></strong></p><p><strong>This story will hook you</strong> and you'll cheer Lukia's every success and mourn her losses. </p><p><strong> KBRC Net Galley</strong></p><br>