A moving string of episodes are highlighting a little girl's quest to understand the thoughts and actions of people she loves, and of those around her.
Born into a German-speaking enclave in Hungary, she is fascinated by her great-grandmother's stories of her migration to, and return from, America. The little girl longs to see the world.
Her dream turns into reality, vastly different than ever imagined.
December 1944: Russian troops invade her village. Lives are shattered, families left powerless to protect themselves or loved ones. Young men and women are rounded up and transported to distant labour camps, leaving the children and old people behind.
A new regime blames the German-speaking ethnic minority for Hungary's participation in the war.
Communities subjected to ethnic cleansing become dispossessed and expelled from their homeland where they have lived peacefully for centuries.
Will the little girl's family survive? How does she cope?
About the Author:
Katharina Fares was born in Hungary into the tenth generation of German-speaking settlers.
She grew up in Communist East of Germany and moved to West Germany where she studied fashion design and clothing manufacturing.
After coming to Australia she worked in the fashion industry, and then began her own manufacturing business and established a number of retail shops.
Later on she obtained a Dip. Ed. and a B. Ed. and lectured in her field of expertise. During this time she wrote accredited curriculum documents for three occupational streams in clothing manufacturing.
As a member of a writers' group she has written many short stories and poems and is currently writing her second book, a historical novel.
VIEW FROM A BARRED WINDOW is based on her own experiences but it is also the story of thousands of displaced people.
She is married with three adult children and lives with her husband in Melbourne.
