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Sown In Tears, A Historical Novel of Love and Struggle  by Beverly Magid

Author Interview + Book & Author Info + Pet Corner!

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Sown In Tears

Russia, 1905: Leah survives a pogrom in her village, then meets a dashing Russian captain who wants to change her life.

The small village of Koretz is attacked and the Jews targeted, but Leah and her sons survive. She captures the attention of the Russian captain, Ivan Vaselik, who finally shows her what it means to love. But Leah is playing a dangerous game of helping the underground workers against the military.

Who will win?

With Leah on her own to protect her sons in a world turned upside down by violence and hatred against the Jews, can she muster the strength and win against the powerful Russian injustice?

To purchase Sown In Tears, click the following link: Amazon.

Interview with Beverly Magid, author of Sown In Tears

Sown in Tears is set in Russia in 1905. Tell us about that era and why you were drawn to write about it?

This was a time before the Russian revolution, but a very bad time for Jews.

They were not permitted to live in areas outside the Pale of Settlement, restricted from most professions and subjected to frequent pogroms or violent attacks on their villages. Both sets of my grandparents lived through these times and then ultimately immigrated to America.

My father was a young boy when they arrived here, but he had vivid memories of his older brother being taken before a firing squad with the other young men in the village and only because of extreme bravery at the last moment, he ran, grabbing the hand of his best friend, escaping before they were shot.

He hid in a water- filled ditch for three days, before dragging himself home, where my father first saw him, muddied and swollen twice his size. 

What would you like readers to know about Leah Peretz, the main character in Sown in Tears?

She grew up loving books and being an independent inquisitive young woman, who finds herself in arranged marriage, to a scholar, but one primarily interested in religious texts.

She is disappointed in the physical aspect of their relationship. But she is a survivor, who manages to protect her children after a pogrom, when her husband is killed. She is resourceful and resilient, now on her own, ultimately in charge of all their lives.

Ivan Vaselik is Leah’s love interest in Sown in Tears, he’s also Russian. How does their relationship complicate Leah’s life?

She fascinates him and she is drawn to him, experiencing feelings for the first time in her life, but he is a Captain in the army, in charge of the battalion and she is helping underground members who are active against the military.

It’s the military which permits and sometimes participates in the violent attacks against the Jews. She could be in danger if discovered and has to be on guard at all times.

This novel first came out in 2012, what led you to re-release it now?

One of the advantages of indie publishing is, your book continues to be available, POD, print on demand. The world has been focusing on the problems of women (even if they don’t solve these problems) as well as problems with Russia.

I felt that a story about survival, struggle against injustice and a story of love, the love of a mother, the love of a woman, was particularly relevant today. I decided that the novel deserved another opportunity to be seen and read. I hope to re-launch Where Do I Go, the sequel to Sown in Tears later this fall for the very same rationale.

As a journalist and entertainment /celebrity PR executive, you have met a host of famous and talented people. Who surprised you the most after meeting them, and why?

I think the surprise is always how kind and generous the most famous and talented ones were.

As a journalist for a music industry publication, I interviewed John Lennon after the Beatles broke up. He was funny and warm and answered with total honesty and humility. As a PR rep, clients like Dolly Parton or Whoopi Goldberg or Jacqueline Bisset all had great senses of humor and most fun to be with. 

What are you working on now?

Since the pandemic, I’ve been writing a lot of poetry.

During those dark days, I felt that poetry gave me the most direct way of expressing my feelings without having to create a whole world of characters and environment. I’m happy to say a few of them have been published in various poetry journals. But I’ve also been playing with a series of character stories which could someday coalesce into something larger.

Words of Wisdom for Aspiring Writers:

It may sound corny, Don’t Give UP.

Write what scares you, don’t worry about your reader, they will go along with you if the story is good, there’s conflict and you surprise them.

Author Pet Corner

I’ve had cats ever since I lived in a fifth-floor walkup apartment in New York and knew I wouldn’t be happy running up and down five flights with a dog, although I do love them also. 

My current two rescue cats are King (8 yr old male) and Lucy ( two yr old female).

Lucy has only been with me for nearly four months, after my cat Bobbysox suddenly passed away.

She and King have a truce and warily approach each other. Not yet sure how close they will become.

Beverly Magid — Author of Sown in Tears

Beverly Magid is long-time resident of Los Angeles, but her heart still commutes to New York.

Before publishing three novels. FLYING OUT OF BROOKLYN, SOWN IN TEARS and WHERE DO I GO, she was a journalist and a PR executive in the entertainment industry.

She also manages to be a political junkie and social issue activist, which considering the state of the world, keeps her very busy along with her poetry and fiction writing.

To learn more about Beverly, check out her website here.

Header image by Khusen Rustamov from Pixabay