Description:
A sweeping historical family saga of love, loss, and the unbreakable will to survive-based on a true story.
Brief description: Boni Wagner-Stafford was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, and as a young child lived for a couple of years in Kelvington, nearher grandfather, Florian Wagner, the main character in her historical fiction novel "Nothing But White Ash." Just before her fifth birthday, her family moved to British Columbia. There was a lot of moving as she grew up, and this wanderlust continued into adulthood. So far, she has lived in more than twenty different cities/towns in Canada, Mexico, and France. She spent three years living full-time on her sailboat, s/v Ingenium, in no small part because she could keep moving without packing the whole house. Perhaps this wanderlust, this search for a place to belong, has also been handed down from her grandfather.Boni is cofounder and publisher at Ingenium Books. She has coached more than three dozen authors and writers, helping them start, develop, polish, and then publish their manuscripts. Many have won awards, two have been Wall Street Journal bestsellers. She's host of the Ingenium Books podcast, and in a past life was an award-winning Canadian journalist, TV news anchor, and talk show host. She lives in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, with her husband John and their four cats. It is possible she is addicted to kittens.
Review Quotes:
"A haunting, unforgettable story of one family's determination to endure persecution and persevere in the face of devastating loss. Meticulously researched and emotionally searing, Nothing But White Ash will captivate fans of historical fiction and poignant wartime sagas alike. Cinematic descriptions of war-torn Russia and the unforgiving Saskatchewan prairies immerse the reader in landscapes both brutal and beautiful, grounding this expansive story in lived-in detail. The result is a novel that is at once earthy, devastating, and
deeply human."
-CANREADS Book Review
"Boni Wagner-Stafford is a gifted writer and storyteller, and her talents shine brilliantly in Nothing But White Ash. This sweeping historical novel is both heartbreaking and unflinching, illuminating the resilience, sacrifice, and hope it takes to build a new life from the ruins of the old. Readers will be transported by Florian's journey and reminded of the power of family in the face of history's harshest trials."
-Dana Frank, national bestselling author of Get Up and Get On It
"Nothing but White Ash is an unforgettable saga of love, survival and the strength of the human spirit during the upheavals of a changing Russia."
-Susan Appleyard, author of Escape of the Grand Duchess
"Nothing But White Ash is a powerful, heart-wrenching novel that breathes life into a forgotten corner of history. Wagner-Stafford's storytelling is both cascading and intimate, capturing the aching pull of love, the weight of sacrifice, and the impossible choices faced by those fleeing persecution. Rooted in lived experience and rendered with lyrical grace, this novel will stay with you long after the last page."
-Adrienne Quintana, author of Eruption and Reclamation
"Five stars. One of the best books I have read about the Volga Germans and their descendants. Easy to read and follow even though it encompassed many individual stories and generations. The characters in the story were believable, and their personalities were well-developed. My heart broke for the lost love of Florian and Lili and for all the times the family had to start over anew because of turmoil not just in Russia, but also in Canada where they settled. A good source of information about the struggle of the German people who were invited to Russia and then despised and ultimately sent to Siberia, their homes and villages destroyed."
-Claudia Rueb, Volga German descendant
"Nothing But White Ash is a stirring trip into the German experience in Russia and Canada. Though I thought this to be a work of historical fiction, it was more profound to learn that it
was biographical as well. Very moving, very powerful. As a writer, I especially appreciated the prose, the almost lyrical way settings, people, etc., are described."
-Sharon Herrick, writer