The Silence of Trees by Valya Dudycz Lupescu

“When he looks into your eyes, tells you he loves you-and the pickled herring and onions are stronger than his voice-yet you still smile. You still want to be close to him. Yes, then you have found love.” 

In Chicago's Ukrainian Village, Nadya Lysenko has built her life on a foundation of secrets. When she was sixteen, Nadya snuck out of her house in Western Ukraine to meet a fortuneteller in the woods. She never expected it to be the last time she would see her family. 

Decades later, Nadya continues to be haunted by the death of her parents and sisters. The myths and magic of her childhood are still a part of her reality: dreams unite friends across time and space, house spirits misplace keys and glasses, and a fortuneteller's cards predict the future. Nadya's beloved dead insist on being heard through dreams and whispers in the night. They want the truth to come out. Nadya needs to face her past and confront the secrets she buried. 

Too often the women of history have been silenced, but their stories have power-to reveal, to teach, and to transform. This is one such story.

This was a very well written book, the author has a gift for making the characters and settings come alive, and at the same time bringing each era together to round out the story.

I love hearing about different cultures and the Ukrainian lifestyle is not one I have come across in any depth before. How amazing to have so many ceremonies and rituals to hold on to, very fascinating!

This book shows the importance of family and how string those bonds are, even through different countries, generations and centuries!  It also demonstrates the strength and ability of humans to heal and move on. "Love the past but live in the present".