Reviews
Ledicia’s Key a moving generational biography and a wonderful historical romantic thriller. The author is able to express feelings so deeply that one feels them as well. There are narrow escapes, chilling and tragic losses. The sweeping story and gorgeous locations would make a powerful mini-series.”
—Mark W. Hammond, Emmy winner
“I couldn’t stay away from reading Ledicia’s key and was up till 5 a.m. You know how that happens when a book calls to you. My eyes are now on strike. Some more compresses and eye drops are in my immediate future. I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this book, the story, her writing and imagery, and language. I can’t wait to give it to some friends.”
—Chaiya Zalles, Montessori Teacher Trainer
In Ledicia’s Key, Baeu’s poignant reprise of far-flung family ties, the author strikes centuries of chords across several continents. Here is the full symphony of humanity, played out in the sharps and flats of personal triumphs and political tragedies. The Author reaches backwards and forwards through time to remind us of a hard-won intergenerational truth. Such a timely series of stories; about surviving genocide, displacement, armed conflicts, and the madmen of history as we grapple in the present with another modern-day tragedy, another wave of invasions, bombings, war crimes and millions of refugees. As these tales so richly prove, ancestry is more than a DNA test. It is the preservation of wisdom and the prevention of amnesia.
—Cynthia F. Davidson, author of The Importance of Paris
War comes in a variety of guises: some of such magnitude that they grab the headlines, while others are fought in smaller spaces, for lesser gains and hardly a mention is made of them. Within her lens focused on the latter perspective, Ledicia’s Key tracks a family through centuries. Baeu gives readers a view offered with breadth and depth as she treats their struggles to survive, their loves and losses, their moral ambiguities in a manner that could only come to life in the deft hands and with the intimate knowledge of an outstanding writer such as Baeu."
—Gene McKee, M.D. and author of DOC, From Bloodletting to Binary and The Girl from Donegal
Kin-Relations-Blood-Tribe-Clan-Folk, Lineage: perhaps there are so many words for the bonds that tie family together, because they have the power to link generations for centuries. Ledicia’s Key, Yvette Nachmias-Baeu’s fourth book, is built around her main character’s hunger--a quest to track family from the Spanish Inquisition to modern day. Despite genetics in common, or perhaps because of it, the diversity of her character’s family becomes apparent when we meet Generals and shopkeepers, royalty and commoners, as each layer of the mystery of family genealogy gets revealed. For anyone pulled by the attraction of their family tree - Ledicia’s Key out to be on your bookshelf.
—I. Michael Grossman, author of Coming to Terms with Aging, Shrinkwrapped, The Power, Mike the Muse, Poems in Disappearing Ink, and The Realm
Ledicia's Key unlocks a treasure trove of a family’s history through six centuries. I sense there is autobiographical material that supports the narrative – and, I’d like to think, the photos as well. This is a most fascinating book and a pleasure, an education, a connection to all things human.
The crafting of this book is first rate. The author’s narrative remains in the present, as she locates and provides the verbal story traditions that made this book possible at all. While it is a gift to the present day narrator, a woman on the brink of falling in love while searching her past, and to us for the stories preserved, it is also a gift to her relatives who protected and repeated what they had learned before the printed word existed!
When I closed the book, after a slow and savored tasting, there are passages that remain with me as very beautiful. For example, when Ledicia was preparing her mother at home for a Jewish burial, she had to “unwind and fully let down her braided bun”. Her mother had a difficult temperament to say the least and was never a source of comfort. Ledicia’s words, “The white strands shine brightly as though expressing delight in being set free.” She cut her mother’s abundant hair and saved it as a source of comfort, along with having saved her father’s gold watch. Quoting Yvette Nachmias-Baeu, author: “The money she will receive for these two precious items will allow Ledicia and her brothers to escape the city and the inquisition’s decree.”
In discovering the story of the protagonist’s great grandfather, she learns that Binyamin, a humble botanist, had a shop of potions and healing creams. He had cured peasants and royalty alike. His ponderings on wars, the author wrote was that “. . .He knows this is the way of life. One war after another: One country conquering another, as if another country’s land is more precious than their own.” Another statement I stopped to savor for its insight and clarity. The tale takes a surprising turn and Binyamin becomes a hero and saves the city, his home and its people from being destroyed by the Turks. He goes on to live a life of comfort and recognition until age eighty-seven.
There is truly a story in here for everyone based on documented truths handed down through time. A treasured experience indeed. Five Stars!
—Linda Collins Thomas, writer, psychologist
Ledicia’s Key is a unique historical novel. The main character, Beka Avraham is on a quest to discover her family roots and travels to Bulgaria to do so. Her journey unearths ancestors with fascinating life stories. The author craftily weaves them into the book, providing the reader with rare glimpses into the locations and historical events surrounding each ancestral character discovered. We are drawn into their lives in a very personal way, feeling the pain and trauma of loss, war, and displacement, all the while kept engaged in Beka’s personal life and philosophical reflections as she learns more not only about her ancestors but herself as well. If you like historical fiction, put this one on your reading list!
—Theresa Schimmel, author of Sunny, David’s War, and Braided Secrets.
I am enjoying traveling with and learning from the characters and stars who make up this remarkable history. Looking forward to each page! It is humbling and amazing, a truly beautiful work. I believe our human bodies never forget the feelings and history of our homeland. Thank you!
— Karen Wilder, Author of Fifty Ways to Leave Your Husband
Starting with a novel approach to narration, Yvette Nachimas-Baeu combines research and storytelling beautifully in this account of the exploration of a family history. Ledicia's Key is one woman's journey to learn about her ancestors through the best and worst of times. War, plague, riches, prejudice, joy, heartbreak and acclaim confront them. During her search Beka also deals with the present as circumstances offer the possibility of turning her now somewhat tired life into one more vibrant. Reading Ledicia's Key one is reminded that humans haven't changed that much during the course of the last five hundred years; still, who knows: maybe love is right around the corner. Maybe it'll flame anew starting with dinner at eight.
__Edwin Forrest Ward, Poet, Artist, Storyteller
The major part of Ledicia’s Key was a delight. It transported me back to Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe of a statelier era. The language is straightforward. The hunt and the cast of relatives are engaging. Indeed, intriguing enough that the romantic subplot comes off as a distraction. Using the main character, Beka’s forebears as the medium, the author present vividly and frankly the brutal road traveled by Iberian Peninsula Jewry onto the Ottoman era.
— Phoebe Cutler, author of The Public Landscape of the New Deal
I have finished reading" Ledicia's Key". It was riveting and I could not put it down. It is beautifully written. The different characters really come to life. The writing style is spare (in the best sense) but exquisite. I found the list of characters/relatives very helpful and kept going back to it to help me keep the characters straight. The photographs really add both context and depth to the story. The story is powerful and presented in a very thoughtful way.
I found the accounts of individuals living in Bulgaria post World War 2 under Soviet rule very touching. It made me think of relatives undergoing similar difficulties in the Ukraine. I was moved by the dedication of the book to the Ukraine. I also found the accounts of relatives trying to adjust to life in Israel very well depicted and resonating with the experience of those who have to find a new country.
— Ulana Farmer, British Columbia
