Nermina's Chance - by Dina Greenberg (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

War sears its imprint on the human spirit in infinite ways.

After her family is murdered and her body ravaged by Serbian soldiers, Nermina Beganovic's only chance of survival is to flee her Bosnian homeland during the Balkan War, circa 1992.

Nermina's Chance by Dina Greenberg reimagines the essence of family and plumbs the depths of a mother's ardent connection to her daughter.

Review Quotes

"Nermina's Chance in less expert hands would have ended up as a drifting trilogy. Dina Greenberg

has kept her story together in one tight and suspenseful narrative, intricately woven. She has

given us a cast of main characters each worthy of their own novel. Rarely does a story blend so

meaningfully the horrors of war, the possibilities and limits of love, and the human need for family.

If you give Nermina's Chance a chance, you will soon be turning the last page."

-Clyde Edgerton, author of Walking Across Egypt and The Night Train

"Nermina's Chance recounts the harrowing odyssey of a young woman escaping war and atrocity to

find a new home in America. Her story-steeped in yearning and hope-is the age-old story of

immigrants of all kinds seeking a better life, the story of damaged people healing one another with

a fierce and gentle humanity that battles against brute barbarism. Beautifully and dramatically told,

full of insight and empathy, with crisp clarity and a laudable moral vision."

-Philip Gerard, author of Cape Fear Rising

"As a refugee and survivor, I worried that Nermina's Chance might not do justice to the historical

facts of my war, to my city, and it's people who had suffered so deeply. Though forensic in detail,

the novel eludes the trap of a single narrative-as important as this one is. Instead, Dina Greenberg

performs the job of a skilled fiction writer, wielding her imagination to bring to life one woman's

healing journey with empathy and humanity."

-Zrinka Bralo, CEO, Migrants Organise

"Nermina's Chance is an intense, riveting read that is hard to put down. In Dina Greenberg's

stories, one always has the feeling of being dropped right into the center of her protagonist's

world. The author takes this connection to a new level in Nermina's Chance. Well placed details

like "delicate gold-plated dishes" in the family home in Bosnia, reveal Nermina's privileged

upbringing. All too soon, though, readers are perched on the edge of their seat beside Nermina-

the "truck jerking and lunging" along a dark, mountain road, explosions in the distance-

wondering if she will escape. Nermina's will to survive is extraordinary. Nermina's Chance is a

wonderful achievement. Highly recommended."

-David Bright, Editor, Gemini Magazine

"In Nermina's Chance, Dina Greenberg weaves the horrors of a nearly-forgotten war with the

ongoing plight of the immigrant experience to create a riveting story about survival and

perseverance. It's a story that reminds us of the humanity that underlies every experience, no matter

how alien it may seem, and one that is perfect for our divisive times."

-Joe Ponepinto, Senior Editor, Orca, A Literary Journal

"The day I became a refugee was the day I bore witness to the trauma of the war in Bosnia, especially

as my relatives were tortured and raped in concentration camps. Not many people are quite so

capable of writing about other people's tragedies as Dina Greenberg did in Nermina's Chance. The

book is a witness statement of the trauma that exists still years after the brutality has ended. You

can tell Greenberg has put her heart and soul into the writing of this book. I've read Nermina's

Chance in three days, and I highly recommend it."

-Nadina Ronc, Foreign Affairs Analyst