Barbara Ridley
I was born in England but have lived in California for most of my adult life. After a career in nursing, I am now focused on creative writing. My work has appeared or is forthcoming in journals such as The Forge Literary Magazine, Ars Medica, The Copperfield Review and Stoneboat. My debut novel, When It’s Over, (She Writes Press 2017), won six Finalist Awards, including the 2018 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Silver Medal for Historical Fiction. I am currently seeking representation for my second novel, set in contemporary California.
Works
When It's Over: A Novel
When It’s Over is a literary novel set in Europe during World War II. Coming of age in Prague in the turbulent 1930’s, Lena Kulkova meets Otto, a refugee from Hitler’s Germany, and follows him to Paris to work for the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War. As the war in Spain ends and a far greater war engulfs the continent, Lena gets stuck in Paris with no news from her Jewish family, including her beloved baby sister, left behind in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia. Otto, meanwhile, has fled to England, and urges Lena to join him, but she cannot obtain visa. When they are finally reunited, they face anti-refugee sentiment and wartime deprivations, while Lena is desperate for news from her mother and sister.
Website
Location
Albany, CA
Author Contact
Category
Fiction & Literature, Essays