Gift of Diamonds: Transylvanian Trilogy

Gift of Diamonds: Transylvanian Trilogy - Book 1 by Roberta Serat tells the story of Mica Mihailescu, a 17 year old girl living in Spera, Romania as Ceausescu and his communist regime takes over in the mid 1960's. She makes a daring escape one night, as her city is erupting in violence with Ceausescu's takeover, and she is forced to flee without her parents, who have gone missing. Since her father was the leader of the Transylvanian anti-communist movement, she has a pretty good idea of what has happened and she uses the skills her father taught her to make her escape. She also brings with her a secret treasure - a collection of rare colored diamonds that her father has been saving for the family's inevitable escape. Before they came into her family's possession, the diamonds were stolen from Jews in Auschwitz, so are they a blessing or a curse?

Since Mica speaks English, she finds a way to work and stay at the American Embassy in Hungary, while she waits on her visa for America. There, she meets many interesting characters, including those who become dear friends and also those who mean others, and possibly her as well, grave harm. In the course of her translating job at the Embassy, she finds herself exposed to the burgeoning world of terrorism between Ceausescu and prominent leaders of the Middle East. Should she tell someone about the information she discovers or could that jeopardize her getting to freedom in America?

What's more, she has only her uncle in America to rely on, her father's estranged younger brother and someone she doesn't know. Does he truly want to help her or is he only interested in getting his hands on the priceless collection of diamonds? Mica will just have to trust him if she has any hope of getting to America, finding out the fate of her parents, and hopefully selling the diamonds to raise funds to get her parents to America. She will do anything to accomplish this and she just might find some happiness along the way.

Gift of Diamonds is initially a daring tale of escape that morphs into one of self-preservation and self-discovery. Mica is a flawed human and is forced to make decisions that are often uncomfortable, but she is determined to be free and above all, to save her parents. Her journey of discovery as she grows into a strong woman is a sweet one, but fraught with tests of her personal mettle. Gift of Diamonds is the first book of three that focuses on a group of childhood friends from Romania, one of whom is Mica. It is a different book than what I typically read, but I enjoyed it.