PRELUDE TO GENOCIDE: Incident In Erzerum

Just published, historic fiction about an Armenian family sheltered by Muslim friends during the massacre of 1895 in Erzerum.

With violence threatening the Christian citizens of a Muslim country, two families – Muslim and Christian — grapple with issues of love, friendship and loyalty. The year is 1895, a time of growing political unrest in eastern Turkey, where many Armenian Christians live.

The friendship between the two families is strained by the death of one family member during the “incident”; other consequences, both tragic and profitable, also ensue. Although men may seem to have all the power in this society, women and children play significant parts in the narrative. Humor and pleasure balance misfortune in this fast-paced story of the smaller genocide that preceded the major Armenian Genocide of 1915 in Turkey.

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October 1895 brought suffering, violence and death to Armenians in eastern Turkey. Set off by events in Constantinople, government troops tear through places Armenians live. As refugees crowd Erzerum, a Muslim Army family shelters their Christian Armenian neighbors from violence. A violent death strains the families’ friendship. A child’s bravado, his brother’s determination and his sister’s resolve bring surprises, while their mother makes a decision that will change all their lives. Loyalty, murder, kidnapping and intrigue fill this fast-paced story that explores questions about the nature of humanity and why we may fail to see what is coming in the Prelude to Genocide.
See also: A Brief History of the Armenians (PDF)