Before the outbreak of World War II, teenager Micah receives the most beautiful gift he had ever been given in his life, Gaston, a magnificent hunting dog.
The sudden bombing of Poznan, however, forces his family to flee to his grandfather’s country house. In a flow of events that will take them by surprise, Micah grows manly and discovers abilities he never imagined he had. In the throes of war, the need to survive and the thirst for life are concepts that cannot be questioned.
In the violent times they lived through, Gaston stands as an unshakable rock beside Micah. He accompanies him through difficult paths, filling the child and other family members with soulful reserves. Gaston’s dedication, endurance, loyalty and unconditional love, a crack of light in the darkness of war. In a historical retrospective of what he and his family experienced, Mika takes stock of his life and his existence.
Tina Serveta was born in Ioannina. The historical novella “Gaston” is her first work and is published by Anemologio.
“My joy at the publication of my first novel is indescribable and I will not hide from you that I feel quite surprised by the feedback I receive, because people have loved and embraced the book in an unprecedented way. It’s a historical novel about a teenager who, along with his dog, an Irish Setter, are called upon to cope with a brutal time when death surrounds them” the author says in the Manifesto.
She explains that “it is a book about how humans are called upon to survive in adverse conditions, it touches on sensitive issues such as that of a child coming of age in wartime, it touches on the issue of holocaust and it touches on war through the eyes of the civilian population. The story is set during the German invasion of Poland at the beginning of World War II. It is a book through which man’s ceaseless struggle for life, man’s unquenchable thirst for survival, emerges. It is a book more contemporary than ever, given the wars raging around us. And in the end it is a book that shows how through the hell of war and unceasing trauma, man man manages not to lose his sensitivity and humanity.”
Publication information:
Title: Tina Serveta
Pages: 94
Dimensions: 14 x21
Price: €12
ISBN: 978-618-5742-26-3
Date. Release date: 2/2026
Code: 2649
