Her Shining Eyes

By Jeanette Morris

Description:

Sometimes Pain Opens the Soul....

Fourteen-year old Irina Kotova’s life as a promising violinist collapses in sync with the demise of the Soviet Union. After her father is killed in a bar fight, her ailing mother is hauled off to jail without explanation. Now considered an orphan, Irina is forced to live in a boarding school where Russia’s throwaway kids are abandoned and forgotten. Irina is constantly tormented by Vadim Solokov, a mean-spirited hooligan who takes great pleasure in reminding her that nobody cares about them. Irina is convinced he is right, and the not-so-mysterious theft of her precious violin seals her resolve to escape the school or die trying. Will she find a place to belong before bitterness destroys all her dreams?

Book Takeaway:

Quoting a reviewer: this story became a personal affirmation of life's disappointments and challenges and my choice to see through cynical and hopeless lenses or through shining eyes of hope and joy.

Why the author wrote this book:

The evolution of Her Shining Eyes reflects a twenty-year personal exploration of not only Russian culture, language, history, and faith, but also of myself. When I first set foot on Russian soil, it wasn't to write a novel or even imagine I could. I believed my first missions trip in 2001 would be the only one. I didn't expect to return year after year or leave part of my heart there or be inspired to tell anyone's story. But in 2010, at the Mount Hermon Christian Writer's Conference, in the Writing for Today's Kids fiction track, Bill Myers planted a seed of possibility in me when he declared my fledgling scene "brilliant" and made me almost believe I could write something worth reading. Along the way, friends, fellow writers, mentors, critiquers, and especially my dear Russian sisters and brothers, offered up their personal experiences and expertise, allowing me to piece together an authentic tale, honoring the time, the place, the circumstances, and the precious souls in Samara, Russia, who endured the challenging decade of the 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union.