Overview

Enter a timeless twenty-four hours of intimate dialogue of mind and heart, in which Lucretia experiences an epic train ride across America on the legendary train, the Chief. It is a journey which culminates in a painful and disturbing homecoming, darkened by human passions, unleashed by the lawlessness of war and the disorder of the era following it. These forces reveal themselves through the thoughts of Lucretia and those connected with her on this journey and beyond. Lucretia's husband Colly's letters provide a poignant counterpoint, offering graphic details of Hitler's death camps and the difficult choices of those who fought against, and those who collaborated in, the genocide of a plundered race. You will struggle with Lucretia, as she seeks to understand her relationships to those in her present and past, strained by the agonizing desolation brought on by war, and the perennial need for sensuality and love. Experience the hope, courage, and tragedy of mothers, fathers, children, and lovers, attempting to survive in war-ravaged Europe. This story, not for the faint of heart, brings us face-to-face with a history that we forget at our peril, a reminder of the savagery of war, and the inhumanity within the human breast. It is perhaps unique in the way it does this through the beauty of Lucretia, her sensitive thoughts and anticipations, and the often contrasting thoughts and desires of those she encounters on this journey by rail. *The sound quality of this recording represents the available audio technology of the era.

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9781982684518

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Ellis introduces intriguing elements of fantasy and symbolism to compel interest in the familiar story's telling once again. -- Denver Post on There Lies a Tale

Author Information

Ernest Ellis (1920-1980) was the recipient of a major Hopwood Award in drama while at the University of Michigan, and served as a navigator in the US Navy during World War II. He graduated from Tufts University, did graduate work at the University of Michigan, and received his MA in English from Michigan State University. Ellis was born into an extended immigrant family in Grand Rapids, Michigan, October 22, 1920. Here he heard the language which had traveled half way around the world seeking shelter, security--even prosperity-- for those who could make the leap. Family ties were close, opportunities plentiful, and work difficult. A brilliant student and promising athlete, Ellis shared his college education with work in the family produce business--shipping, loading, and unloading, much of which was done by hand, by the very strong, and the very needy; like those who appear in his one-act play, DAWN. Ellis was married to Patricia Fisk and father of three children, living most of his life in the countryside outside his hometown, Grand Rapids, Michigan, always with German Shepherd dogs. Ellis spent much time writing, several years teaching and running family businesses, and was an avid gardener, who enjoyed light farming to rest my eyes. His first published novel, There Lies a Tale, challenged us to strip away the comforting blinders from our eyes and confront the incoherence of the human situation. There Lies a Tale is a literary parable of Auschwitz...Dwelling on the wishful blindness of times past, Ellis introduces intriguing elements of fantasy and symbolism to compel interest in the familiar story's telling once again. Stanton Peckham, the Denver Post

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