Alone in the Storm

Writing opened the lid of my box of buried memories. Looking back at my long life’s journey, I am dizzy contemplating the rough road and the distance I have travelled.

In 1944, twenty-year-old Leslie Vertes escapes from a forced labour detail in Budapest and miraculously survives by assuming a false identity. About to taste freedom and security as the end of the war nears, his liberation is short-lived when he is caught by the new Soviet regime and sent for two years of back-breaking labour and captivity. While rebuilding his life and finding love, Leslie is once again threatened during the 1956 Hungarian uprising, and he must run for his life. Arriving in Canada with his family, Leslie finds hope again as he finally tastes true freedom.