Haunting from the Past
Haunting from the Past
Sequel to Remember Me
by Sanela Ramic Jurich
As Selma tries to move on and recover from the horrible experience she had went through while living in Bosnia in 1992-where she and her parents had found themselves targets of the Bosnian war and where Selma had lost nearly all those she loved, was abused by those whom she once trusted, and had witnessed prejudice at its ugliest-the hell from which, she thought, she had finally escaped, found her in America and started haunting her again, reminding her that there was unfinished business someplace else.
Selma is a respected business woman, living in Chicago with the love of her life and their son. From the outside, it looks as if she finally has it all; career and family many people could only wish for. She thinks she is the luckiest person on the planet who had survived and escaped hell. One day she receives a phone call that forces her to go back to the place she had left behind almost two decades before. She had promised never to go back there, but now, she finds herself in a desperate situation from which there is no way out. She goes back to face her demons once again.
Will this trip finally, push Selma over the edge and be the end of her? Who knows, it might even help her get some kind of conclusion. Follow Selma’s journey back to the past through despair, hatred, love, hope, and peace in author Sanela Jurich’s Haunting from the Past.
244 pages
Click here to read a free excerpt.
Reviews:
Readers will enjoy this authentic story of triumph over tragedy. Written as a sequel to Ms. Jurich’s debut novel, “Remember Me,” I’ll venture to say this one is even better. Told from the point of view of a master storyteller, the novel’s Prologue launches the reader into investigating some deep and meaningful questions that may or may not be answered. I found myself immediately captivated in anticipation of an emotional roller coaster ride of a journey later to discover pure satisfaction when the ride was over.
The author’s prose will tug at your heartstrings as the story opens with the main character; Selma Mazur accepting an invitation to return to the places where the demons of the traumatic past still haunt her in the quiet of her dreams. Told in the first person from Selma’s point of view, the reader is presented with the dilemmas and emotions Selma must face as the story unfolds. Ms. Jurich’s main theme centers on giving voice to the unheard, specifically the casualties of the human conflict. This story is written from the perspective of the knowing, and warrants a broad audience, the underlying hope that the painful lessons of the past will not be forgotten.
The story is rich with place descriptions, and realistic dialogue that made me feel like I was in the story, beside Selma as she came face to face with an imprisoned war criminal to listen to his confessions. Eventually Selma travels to Prijedor, her native town in the north of Bosnia-Herzegovina. While there she recognizes her need for closure and tells herself, it is “…time for me to start coming to grips with my past.”
I thoroughly enjoyed the subtle ways that Ms. Jurich’s themes come through in the dialogue. When Selma’s mother, Sabina tells Selma she’d been giving money to Damir, a Serb boy now in jail struggling with his drug addiction while fighting demons of his own, Selma wonders how her mother could be so willing to forgive. Sabina’s response, “I like to think that there are more good people in this world than bad ones, and no matter what he did to others, we cannot forget that he was good to us.”
Now that I’ve read this story, one particular “haunting” idea continues to run around in my mind. When Selma contemplates the war criminal, Mr. Pavlovic, whom she meets with at the beginning of the story, she reflects on the notion that had there not been a war, and had this man Pavlovic not been thrust into the position he found himself in, the side of him that became monstrous in war may never have come to light. He would have possibly remained a respectable businessman, married with a child, living a peaceful life with no idea of ever harming another human being.
Though this novel is a sequel, it can stand on it’s own with sufficient back story to cover some of the key plot elements from “Remember Me.” However, I’d venture to guess that anyone who enjoys reading “Haunting From the Past,” would definitely want to read them both. For readers remotely reluctant to dive into stories with dark and tragic plot elements, I can assure that the satisfying conclusion of this story is most certainly one of “Triumph over Tragedy.”
Click on the picture to add to your books on Goodreads. 
Read an interview with Sanela by Gregory S. Lamb – PDX Author.
_______________________
PURCHASE ON AMAZON: