My Name Is Vlada

About the Book

Ripped away from the only family she ever knew, Vlada struggles with a new identity in a foreign world where no one can be trusted. At the hands of her misguided father and ineffectual mother, Vlada endures a series of life-changing events that shape her future. But who is the mysterious Nicolo Sargente? Can he help reunite Vlada with her beloved grandparents, living in Italy? And what will happen to her dark, tormented brother, Toni?

This intriguing novel, set in the Soviet Union, exposes the vulnerabilities of a family tempted by the ideals of communism as they grapple with the realities of totalitarianism and Siberian labor camps.

About the Author

Grace Deitch-Boogay was born into an Italian immigrant family in Buffalo, N.Y. in 1919. Her father was and idealist, who believed in communism and moved to the Soviet Union. Together with her mother and her brother, Grace followed shortly after and spent the next 27 years of her life in communist Russia.

In 1962 she and her daughter were finally allowed to leave the Soviet Union for Italy and returned to the US in 1964. She settled in California and worked in the General Library at UC Berkeley for the next 17 years. Grace has a daughter, two granddaughters and three great-grandchildren, and presently resides in Hawaii.