The Darker Shadow by R. P. Sevadjian
Publication date: Nov. 23, 2017
ISBN:Hardback 978-0-9931339-2-3
Paperback 978-0-9931339-3-0
215 pp.
Written for younger readers and those who do not know much of the recent history of the Armenian people, The Darker Shadow gives enough information to explain events during the Armenian Genocide, in the hope that it will spur readers on to find out more.
The Darker Shadow is a coming-of-age novel set in the Ottoman Empire during the first year of WWI. It tells the story of teenage twins, Bedros and Dzovinar, who live in Aintab with their uncle. The novel traces the events of autumn 1914 to summer 1915—the beginning of the systematic annihilation of the Armenian race in the Ottoman Empire. It tells the story of important episodes, such as the battle of Sarikamish, the fall of Zeitoun, and the defense of Van, among others.
The Darker Shadow is a work of fiction based on fact. All of the main characters in the story are fictional, with the exception of Dr. Clarence Ussher, who was a key eyewitness to the defense of Van and who wrote about it in detail in his memoirs.
The book is the sequel to In the Shadow of the Sultan, which was published in 2014. As with In the Shadow of the Sultan, The Darker Shadow tells of a long journey that Bedros and Dzovinar are compelled to undertake together with their uncle and his American friends. They travel over difficult terrain and through remote and devastated villages, and form a better understanding of the treatment of Armenians throughout the empire.
The books present a description of the traditions and customs of Armenian life, and also provide essential political and historical context for the Armenian Genocide.
Both books are available from Amazon and from moufflon.com.cy.
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SURVIVOR
We were
an island of faith
risen in a sea of ominous
pagan tempests threatening
to swamp the very sound
of our prayers of hope
in a furious gale of
fear and dread…
We had
made the leap
to Light and Peace
with the Grace of the
only born Son’s descent
on the sacred land of Eden
and His disclosure to the Saint
sent to Ararat dyed crimson
with the blessed blood of
the maidens martyred
by an incensed king
gone stark mad…
We had revered
Anahit the mother
of all wisdom adored
Mary the Mother of God
we made the cruel journey
bearing the heavy cross
of double martyrdom
at Avarayr and then
at Deir-ez-Zor…
* * *
In the splendor
of spring, the sun rose
on the darkest day of our
lives, shining on bare blood-
soaked bayonets of men
prodding old men and
women and babes
onto a long trek
to demise…
At sunrise
We left behind
ancestral homes
a native soil we had
tilled for many millennia
orchards schools churches
and burial grounds… forced to
drag our worn out famished
and broken bodies to a
distant endless alien
graveyard in the
lifeless sands
of the alien
desert…
Parched inert
where nothing grew
and all things withered
and died… by the time the
end came bones outnumbered
the stars and the crescent
moon appeared in dark
blood-red skies…
Then the moans
of anguish morphed
into clarions’ call to a final
battle for faith and Homeland
and valiant sons and daughters
of Urartu Nayiree and Ararat
Van Moush and Bitlis rose
as one and raised the
rainbow colors of
the Covenant…
And I survived.
—————- Tatul Sonentz
April, 2009