Please give a warm Coffee Pot welcome to Historical Fiction
author, Michelle Saftich. Today,
Michelle is going to share with us her inspiration behind her fabulous series…
Port of No Return
A family is forced to flee their Italian city of
Fiume when Tito and his Yugoslav army come for it at the end of World War II.
Separated, then homeless and starving in war-torn Europe, they struggle to
survive. A story of friendship, family and hope.
Wanderers No More
An Italian family escape Europe, seeking a fresh
start in Australia. But they bring the past with them… dreams, love, friends
and an enemy. Follow their son Martino as he faces 1950s’ racism and other
struggles, in and outside the home, while never giving up on what seems like an
impossible dream. (While a sequel, it can
be read as a standalone novel).
Author’s Inspiration
Not
many people know about the little but devastating conflict that happened at the
end of World War II, in the north-east corner of Italy.
While
the rest of Europe was preparing for peace at the end of the long, cruel war,
north-east Italy was preparing for yet another war, a local one with
Yugoslavia. This resulted in a battle that saw thousands killed and then as Tito’s
Yugoslav troops moved in, a style of ethnic cleansing began.
Afterwards,
even Italy wanted to suppress stories about it, needing to maintain peace with
its Communist neighbour, Yugoslavia, throughout the Cold War.
It
wouldn’t be until 2004 that the Italian government finally declared a Memorial Day
in remembrance of the killings and the displaced Italians.
My
grandparents lived in Fiume and my grandfather was named on a Yugoslav Partisan
list for execution. They, like thousands of others, had to flee the city.
In
researching this history, my father took me to meet an old Italian woman in her
suburban home in Brisbane, Australia. In her dimly-lit kitchen, with a cup of
tea in front of her, she recounted her memories of Tito’s troops coming down
the hills into Fiume to claim their city. She was speaking in Italian while my
father translated for me.
Even
though I had to wait for the translation, I could tell by her whisperings that
she was re-living it, that she was afraid to speak too loud as though Tito’s
spies were still around to hear her.
She
was only sixteen at the time.
“There
were rumours,” she said. ‘We heard them.”
‘What
did you hear?” I asked.
She
wouldn’t answer. I waited, gave her time. At last, she said… “old mines. They
were pushing them alive down old mine shafts.”
She
would say no more. My father had told me that when Fiume was taken, the
Yugoslav Partisans had “put Italians against the wall and shot them”. I knew executions had taken place, but I didn’t
know the full story.
I
took to the internet and searched for information. And that’s when I first learned
about the “foibe”. Not just old mines, but Italians were taken up into the
mountainous karst regions and thrown down natural chasms in the ground. It was
chilling.
Now
I wanted to write not just about my grandparents’ experience but what had
happened around them.
To
do this, I shifted from writing a straight family memoir to historical fiction.
I was now being inspired by my father’s family and keeping close to their
journey but adding fiction to cover and reveal more history.
It
was a tough assignment on many levels. But approaching the story through my
eyes, the eyes of a granddaughter, with love and sensitivity, I tried to
deliver a human tale, a family tale against a harsh historic backdrop, and one
that to me should not be forgotten. I had thought to call my book Fiume not
Forgotten, but I settled on Port of No
Return, a fitting title too, as my grandparents would never return to the
beautiful portside town of Fiume, now known as Rijeka.
Wanderers No More is the
poignant sequel. In its pages, I tried to explore with open eyes what my father
and his family encountered on migrating to Australia; their struggles to adapt
and eke out a living while dealing with 1950s’ racism in a much less
sophisticated and uncultured country than what they were used to. There is a
family tragedy here that was the hardest of all to write…
And
yet the novels are essentially about love, hope and inspiration. Times of war,
loss and displacement can bring out the worst in people but also the best in
people, making them great stories to tell and uphold.
These
two novels were a privilege to write.
Links for Purchase
Port Of No Return
Wanderers No More
Michelle Saftich
Michelle Saftich is an author who resides in Brisbane, Australia.
She holds a Bachelor of Business/Communications Degree, majoring in
journalism, from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT).
She
has had a rewarding career, working in communications, including print
journalism, sub-editing, communications management, media relations and
marketing. However, writing fiction has
always been her first passion.
Her
debut historical fiction novel, Port of
No Return, was published by Odyssey Books in 2015, and its recently
published sequel Wanderers No More completes
the series. The series was inspired by
her Italian-born father and his family and their experiences after World War
II.
Michelle
is married with two sons and writes with her black cat by her side.
You
can find Michelle on…
Thank you for sharing your inspiration with us today!!
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of this before, thank you for drawing it to my attention. Things like this should be known.
ReplyDeleteThanks John. I appreciate your comment. Raising awareness of this history is what I had hoped to achieve.
ReplyDelete