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Author's novel rekindles grandmother's legacy of survival By Kathy Yanchus OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Through the eyes of her young heroine, author Shelly Sanders came to know her own grandmother more intimately. In pre-revolutionary Russia at the turn of the 20th century, Sanders' grandmother and her family escaped from the violence and hatred of an anti-Jewish pogrom and fled to Shanghai. In her debut novel written for young adults, Rachel's Secret, Sanders pays tribute to her grandmother's memory through the story of 14-year-old Rachel who lives amid the antiJewish violence in Kishinev, Russia, in 1903. And like the young woman she is immortalizing, Rachel has secrets. "I knew my character was going to be strong," said Sanders. "I knew my grandmother was an extremely strong person because she had to leave her home in Russia and they had to leave everything they owned behind and then go to Shanghai, a new place with a new language. "She worked for two years because her parents didn't have the money for university and then took a boat by herself to California to San Francisco and put herself through University of California at Berkeley. She got a science degree while working as a nanny and the degree was in English which was like her third or fourth language... I just knew that this is a person who does not give up, this is a person who is very smart and she wanted more for herself." This remarkable woman, who died when Sanders was 12, was also loathe to divulge any details about her childhood, even to her own children. When Sanders became a mother for the first time, she felt a renewed interest in her grandmother's story. "When you have a child, you want to be able to give them their history. There were a lot of unanswered questions," said Sanders. When her now teenage daughter was six months old, Sanders travelled to Montreal to extract as much information about her grandmother as possible from her great-aunt. told because the more I found out about the pogroms, I just thought not a lot of people know about this history and I just felt this desire to get it out there, this need to get it out there. That kind of kept me going, wanting to tell this story." Writing about her grandmother was easier from the perspective she had some information to go on. "But in some ways, no, because as a journalist, I'm a stickler for accuracy so I probably spent a lot more time ensuring everything was accurate about her and the experience, what she would be thinking in her head, whereas if it was a character I created, I would have had a little more freedom, a little more flexibility. I wanted it to be true to her, something that she would like." Reviews for Rachel's Secret have been nothing short of amazing for the first-time author, who is working on a sequel with a grant from the Ontario Arts Council and awaiting news about possible publication of an adult fiction book titled The Third Twin. "What I did while getting rejections was I threw myself into my writing and wrote other books. "It's so hard. The waiting game is so hard. That's part of it though. It's persistence and being patient." Over the next two months, Sanders will be bringing her power point presentation, titled The History Behind the Story, to schools, synagogues and libraries, with actual photos from Kishinev. Sanders will also be at A Different Drummer Books in Burlington tomorrow (Saturday) at 2 p.m. Everyone is welcome. 35 · Friday, April 20, 2012 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.insideHALTON.com "I knew my grandmother was an extremely strong person." Shelly Sanders, author nikki wesley / oakville beaver / @halton_photog making it merry: Freelance writer/journalist Shelly Sanders has published her first book, Rachel's Secret, a historical fiction novel based on her grandmother's experiences living through a Russian pogrom and her escape. "My aunt was a little more open, but still a bit guarded. At that moment I thought I really want to write a book some day, but you know, life got busy." After two more children and a freelance journalism career, Sanders committed to fulfilling her lifelong dream of publishing a book. "You have no idea when you're sitting there working at your desk, if you're going to make any money, if anyone's ever going to read it, if it's ever going to get published, you just don't know," she said. "I wanted this more than anything, I really wanted to write this book. There were days when I'd get rejections and I would be like, I wish I could just give this up, I can't do it anymore and then a couple of days later I'd (say), I have to do this, I really, really want this story to be Lead character speaks to audience Continued from page 34 humour to nurture the troublemaking Ewert. This occurs all while Catricala, who is also aware of the audience, breaks down the fourth wall and interacts with the audience, narrating as well as acting. "I play off the audience. This is an intimate conversation. I'm giving people insight into this story," she said. The play is also a true depiction of Canadian history, Catricala said. "Everything in this play is educational, historical and true to what would have been experienced at that time. It's just a walk into the past of our country and it has this beautiful story," she said. The group also rehearsed in the Palermo Schoolhouse to get a feel of an actual oneroom schoolhouse. There are evening performances of the play April 19-21 and April 25-28, all starting at 8 p.m. There is a Sunday, April 22 matinée at 2 p.m. A portion of the profits from the matinée will be donated to the McMaster Children's' Hospital. The Centre is at 130 Navy St. Tickets cost $18-$27. For tickets, visit www.oakvillecentre.ca. BigNamesSmallTheatre JACOB MOON April 21 ~ SULTANS OF STRING May 3 MENAKA THAKKAR DANCE CO. May 4 ~ JOANNE SHAW TAYLOR May 5 All performances are at THE OAKVILLE CENTRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS To order tickets call: 905-815-2021 or go to www.oakvillecentre.ca Poetry with a conscience at Moonshine Cafe The Oakville Literary Alliance is holding its Poetry with a Conscience event on Sunday. The event is part of Oakville Poetry Month. The free event will take place at the Moonshine Café from noon to 2 p.m. Poems will be read that relate to human rights, environmental concerns, war, peace, social equality, economic fairness and more. Everyone is welcome to come and listen. Those who wish to read are asked to email Cheryl at cheryl.xavier@sympatico.ca. The café is located at 137 Kerr St.