PUBLISHER: Červená Barva Press
$18.00 U.S. (paperback)
INQUIRIES: customerservice@thelostbookshelf.com
The Sun Eaters unravels the story of two brothers in a small village of an Eastern European country just post World War II. The two boys and a handful of their colorful mates struggle to survive famine, desolation and destruction, as well as repressive political ideology that has been forced upon their country. In the boys’ battle against what seems like all elements of life-turned-hostile, we discover the beauty of the enduring human spirit and the coping powers of a child’s imagination during difficult times.
Purchase Options:
So & So Books in Raleigh, NC – Call First – (919) 426-9502
PRAISE FOR THE SUN EATERS
“Leave it to Alex Pruteanu to deliver unto us a world full of lullabies, magical talking fish and tragic tales of men building monasteries. That it all unfurls against the backdrop of a war-ravaged land wherein starvation and cruelty walk hand in hand truly sets The Sun Eaters apart. Pruteanu engages us immediately and joyously despite the book’s cast of children with frozen fingers and feet wrapped in tattered shoes made of tires…Suffice it to say this one made me wax both indignant and wistful. I cannot recommend it highly enough.”
–Erin O’Brien, author of The Irish Hungarian Guide to the Domestic Arts
“This book, set in a war torn country of Eastern Europe, opens that door onto extreme poverty and hardship, telling the story of a mother and her two small sons trying to survive starvation and other atrocious aftermaths of war. The little village where they live poorly has lost its men, and the women and children have been left to their own devices. Though The Sun Eaters portrays extreme hardship, it also shows the reader how inventive children can be…This book raises a lot of questions, is extraordinarily sad in places, but at the same time offers up many bright and courageous moments during what was a bleak and seemingly hopeless point in history. Very highly recommended.”
–Susan Tepper, author of Monte Carlo Days & Nights
“With so many post-apocalyptic tales appearing over the last decade or two, it’s good to be reminded that humans have lived out these kinds of stories countless times in the past. Alex Pruteanu tells a tale of two young brothers struggling to survive the aftermath of WWII in the post-apocalyptic landscape of Eastern Europe. The scenes in this book are harrowing and heartbreaking, but there is an incredible beauty at play as well—a toast to the human spirit, rendered like a graffitied love note on a crumbling brick wall. As Cormac McCarthy did with The Road, Pruteanu manages to present both the brittle frailty and the unbreakable strength of human beings as two sides of the same coin. The writing is stark but appealing, like an Ansel Adams B&W photograph of a lonely, intriguing landscape. Highly recommended.”
–Joe Kapitan, author of Caves of the Rust Belt: Ohio Stories
(S)wine: Fiction...Sometimes 