Tania Romanov - Mother Tongue: A Saga of Three Generations of Balkan Women

What People Are Saying...

Mother Tongue is a story about identity in the context of history. Romanov was born in just one place but the country she came from keeps changing as the tides of history keep sweeping over the Balkans. Framed as a journey to her familys hometown in what is now Croatia, Romanovs story is really about tracking the improbable line that led to who she is, down through her own life, her parents lives and the lives of her ancestors. The Balkans are a tangle many of us tend to gloss over because we cant get inside it. With this fascinating memoir, Tania Romanov takes us there.

Tamim Ansary, author of West of Kabul, East of New York

In Mother Tongue, a story for our times, writer, photographer and world traveler Tania Romanov follows the life journeys of three generations of women (Katarina, Zora and herself) as she pieces together a complex picture of the fragmentation, war and upheaval that has tormented the people of the area known as the Balkans for centuries. As she digs deeper, painful truths are revealed, truths that lead her back to the refugee camp of her infancy and the losses and collateral damage of war.Linda Watanabe McFerrin, author of Namako, The Hand of Buddha and Dead Love

This is of historical and cultural significance. In a way, Romanov has done a service to every emigrant, to all the displaced persons out there, to the current refugee crisis, and done it by affirming the great value of a melting pot. The forces that shape a people, that shape an individual person are so complex, and so easy to misunderstandeven by those they affect most deeply. Gay Wind Campbell, photographer, All Hands Volunteers, and author of Images Par Deux

I loved reading Mother Tongue. I absolutely devoured it, often reading in the middle of the night. I was always anxious to discover the next turn in the story and everyone's lives. I was totally engaged and every time I started asking myself a question, it was answered a few pages later. I really enjoyed the way the chronology came together, coming full circle at the end, with so much depth created throughout by the interwoven stories. I enjoyed not only learning more about Tania Romanovs family, but also gaining more insight into the complex political circumstances of these countries/peoples through time.Barbara Lannin, world traveler and business executive

I devoured Tania Romanovs Mother Tongue and wish I had read it before going to Croatia. I was drawn deeply into the turbulence of their lives along with the triumphs of overcoming obstacles, being reunited and finally flourishing. It made me a bit jealous of the strong ethnic identity and family bonds which I missed out on in my life. I will definitely return to the Adriatic coast, Croatia and more. Lots of memories flooded back as I read this book, although at the time I understood little of the lives of the people I encountered there, of the politics, or the history. Susan Cornelis, author of Conversations with the Muse: The Art Journal as Inner Guide

Mother Tongue is a book that successfully combines entertainment and education. Ms. Romanov tells the saga of her mother's family beautifully and with passion. I love the way she uses languages as an underlying theme of the book, tying the story lines together with the language she spoke only with her mother. It is a compelling tale full of interesting historical fact based on the author's research and her own knowledge and experiences.Judith Hamilton, author of Animal Expressions

Copyright 2018 by Tania Romanov Amochaev

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Travelers Tales and Solas House are trademarks of Solas House, Inc., Palo Alto, California.

Travelerstales.com | solashouse.com

Cover design and interior layout by Ruth Schwartz,
aka My Book Midwife, mybookmidwife, com
based on a template BookDesignTemplates.com

Cover photo: Katarina Marinovi's seven daughters, including Zora Amochaev

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Amochaev, Tania Romanov, 1949-author.

Title: Mother tongue : a saga of three generations of Balkan women / Tania Romanov.

Description: 1st ed. | Palo Alto : Travelers' Tales, An imprint of Solas House, Inc., 2018.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017057379 (print) | LCCN 2017044333 (ebook) | ISBN 9781609521271 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781609521288 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Amochaev, Tania Romanov, 1949-| Amochaev, Tania Romanov, 1949---Family. | Mothers and daughters--Yugoslavia--Biography. | Mothers and daughters--California--San Francisco--Biography. | Immigrants--California--San Francisco--Biography. | Refugees--Yugoslavia--Biography. | Yugoslavia--Emigration and immigration. | Yugoslavia--Biography. | San Francisco (Calif.)--Biography.

Classification: LCC CT1458.A56 A3 2018 (ebook) | LCC CT1458.A56 (print) | DDC 306.874/3--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017057379

First Edition
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Dedication

To my mother,
Zora Marinovi Amochaev

Acknowledgments

This is a story based on memory about the Balkans, a land where even facts disagree. It reflects one version of a history of conflict, war, and exile.

As I write this, my adopted country struggles with issues of acceptance of immigrants and refugees, and conflicts between radically differing beliefs.

I am grateful to the people of the United States of America for accepting my family and giving me the opportunities to forge a life I cherish.

CHAPTER ONE

Of course I can find the home I was born in! Mama exclaimed, in response to his question.

Climbing a hill that rose sharply from the Adriatic Sea, we three seekers wandered, lost, on rough roads past ancient stone houses in the nearly deserted village in Croatia.

One of the pilgrims, Zora, my seventy-year-old widowed mother, was in a town she had left as an infant. She was searching for the home she was born in, for the house in which she believed her uncle still lived. I walked with her, able to communicate with the people, for Mama had always insisted that her language was my birthright and would not be lost to me. My American husband Haroldthe third pilgrimspoke only English but was first to understand the challenges of our situation.

Well, where is your house then, Zora? he asked.

It is near here; I am sure of that. I just need to look a little longer, Harold.

Zora, weve walked up and down every road in this village...

I know, she interrupted, but I can see it in my mind as clearly as if it were yesterday.

Okay, Okay, I give up. Harold smiled and put his arm around her. If you arent tired, we can keep going.

Mama looked at my tall husband with a bemused expression. She always insisted her height was five feet and a half. That half was only half an inch, but Zora was anybodys equal. English was her third or fourth language, depending on how much of a language you needed to know to count it. She spoke it well, but with a Slavic accent.