Anne K. Howard Author

Adoriana in the bomb shelter (identity blurred)  In the Introduction of Escape from Mariupol: A Survivor's True Story, I briefly discuss how the book was written. I mention that my Ukrainian co-author, Adoriana Marik, emailed me letters written in Russian (the second language of many Ukrainians) which I translated into English and crafted into a narrative. The totality of those letters, along with the research that I added regarding recent Ukrainian history and Russia's current war, comprise the body of the book. In theory, it sounds like a straightforward process. But theory is just that- theory. Reality is something altogether different.   The emails that Adoriana initially sent me from a refugee hostel in the Czech Republic last spring resembled a stream-of-consciousness train wreck. Having lived underground for five weeks during nonstop aerial shelling and gun fighting in the streets of Mariupol, Adoriana's untamed recollection of events reflected the chaos of her tr...