Kildare writer publishes new book about Nazi-occupied Europe

Kildare writer Raphael Ryan has released his latest historical novel, The Night has Darkness on its Side, published by Roseberry Publishing.

The book follows the fate of three lives caught up in the chaos of Nazi-occupied Europe.

When the Gestapo arrive to deport the last remaining Jewish family on her street, Edith Stern manages to evade detection and goes on the run.

Relying on the help of kind-hearted Germans and anti-Nazi sympathisers, she struggles to stay beyond the reach of State security.

Her fiancé, Joseph Kromberg, has already been deported to the ghettos of eastern Poland with his family. Will their letters keep their love alive, or will the killing grounds of the east erase it altogether?

Meanwhile, Hans Gerlach delivers essential mechanical parts for the German army to the eastern front.

His journey across the territories reveals the horrors of that landscape of death, and the random fate that faced everyone who found themselves deported into the region.

“The fate of all three will be determined by factors outside their control,” Ryan said.

This is not the first historical work by the Kildare-based author. Ryan has previously written Traps for Troubadours, a historical novel, and On the Banks of the Liffey, a two-volume history of Newbridge College.

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