Flowers in the Dust

Can two people from opposite worlds forge a life together? It's 1938 in Asuncion, Paraguay. Chola is a young and innocent woman, born and raised in ultra-conservative, Catholic South America. Hans is a recent immigrant, the handsome son of a wealthy Jewish family from Berlin. Chola doesn't speak a word of German and Hans doesn't speak a word of Spanish. Yet there is a strong attraction that quickly brings them together in marriage. Chola's dreams of happiness are quickly shattered as she finds herself the timid servant to a man she hardly knows and shares neither a common culture or language. Also, Hans refuses to shed the playboy lifestyle he had in the free-spirited Berlin, even for his new bride. Just as young Chola grapples with this dramatic and disappointing change in her life, she faces a new challenge, as Hans' family flees Nazi Germany and heads to South America to live with them. Hans' infidelities and obsession with gambling force Chola to take measures into her own hands as she continues to raise her daughters not to repeat her own mistakes. Even in the face of the ultimate betrayal, she digs in and finds another reason to keep fighting for a better life.

Myriam Alvarez was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In 1996, she moved to New York City, where she worked for 12 years as a foreign correspondent for an international news agency, at the United Nations Headquarters. She has over 20 years of experience as a journalist and freelance writer. Currently, she writes for several Hispanic magazines. She lives in New Jersey, with her husband and two sons. Flowers in the Dust is her first novel. For more information go to www.myriamalvarez.com