Torch
Binding: Hardcover
Age 13+
General Fiction
Told from the perspectives of three characters, Torch explores the devastating impact of a totalitarian regime and the different ways young people carve out futures for themselves against impossible odds
When 17-year-old Pavol fatally sets himself on fire in Prague in 1969 to protest the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, he leaves behind three friends whose lives are changed forever. Stepan must conceal his sexual orientation from a government that's already suspicious of him. Tomáš faces judgment for his own unacceptable "abnormality" (which today would be identified as Asperger's syndrome). And Lida is pregnant with Pavol's child, branding her a traitor by association.
In the aftermath of Pavol's death, all three must decide whether to keep struggling to survive in the country Pavol died hoping to save. . . or try to escape, together, in search of a better life.
Creators
Lyn Miller-Lachmann is an author, educator, and editor. Fluent in Spanish, Portuguese, and English, Lyn enjoys traveling to new places. She lives part-time in New York City and Lisbon, Portugal with her husband.
Reviews
With meticulous attention to detail, Miller-Lachmann recreates a terrifying and excruciating chapter in our shared human history. A work of historical fiction about an almost forgotten time that is frighteningly relevant in today’s world.
Padma Venkatraman, author of The Bridge Home and Born Behind Bars
Lyn Miller-Lachmann’s Torch manages to accomplish the nearly impossible—a novel that is not only intensively researched and informative, but also riveting and deeply heartfelt. Readers will learn and care in equal measure.
Cynthia Levinson, author of the Robert J. Sibert Medal-winning The People's Painter: How Ben Shahn Fought for Justice with Art
Torch immerses readers in the lives of a group of teenagers in Czechoslovakia after the 1968 Soviet invasion. Rather than live without freedom, one of them decides to protest the regime’s oppression by setting himself on fire—and as a consequence, the dreams of his best friends go up in flames too. I was immediately hooked and couldn’t put this down. Incredibly relevant for today’s teens, especially with the current surge of authoritarianism around the globe.
Kip Wilson, author of White Rose and The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin
