A couple of years ago I was approached by Nadia Kovarik, who asked me if I would consider helping her with her book. Nadia, who was originally from Czechoslovakia, had written her book in Czech and had it published over there, and wanted to publish it in English. I didn’t really know much about Nadia’s past life, but I was interested in writing and so volunteered to help her out.
I would weekly go over to Nadia and George’s (her husband) place with my iPad and wireless keyboard and we began working on the book. Nadia would hand write the chapters in English, using a Czech/English dictionary, and my job was to smooth out the English and type it out on my iPad. This process took well over a year, but I found it interesting since I hadn’t read her book or knew anything about it contents, it was all new to me.
Nadia and George grew up in Communist Czechoslovakia, and worked as mountain guides in resorts. They grew restless about their restricted lifestyle behind the Iron Curtain, and decided and planned to make a daring escape to the West. They left everything (both family and possessions) behind, taking advantage of a state sponsored “vacation” Yugoslavia, they snuck across the border, ending up in a refugee camp in Italy. While all of this is pretty dramatic stuff, Nadia writes in a humorous and lighthearted style, so the book is not only interesting, but fun to read.
Accepted as refugees by Canada, they begin life in a new country, where the lifestyle is so different from what they grew up with. Having both loved life in the mountains and knowing Western Canada’s reputation for snowy peaks, they are somewhat bewildered to find themselves in flat Red Deer, Alberta. Slowly moving from place to place seeking the wilderness they so love, they eventually settle in the Kootenays of BC where George fulfills his dream of building a log house by himself, providing them a new home on their own property.
As I mentioned before Nadia has a great sense of humor and the book is a delight to read. I discovered that it was on Amazon.com yesterday. I felt the little blurb it gave about the book didn’t really represent the book’s contents which is far more interesting and entertaining. Below is a link.
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