Author Deborah Alcock

Deborah Alcock

   I have only read six of Deborah Alcock's many books, but each was a spectacular work of historically accurate, exciting Christian historical fiction! Can anything get better than that? I highly recommend these books. I have always loved well-written historically accurate books of adventure, intrigue, excitement, with also a little sadness, a little romance....but of such I have rarely found books which also present a strong Christian message!
I don't believe I am overstating when I say that you will love these books. They appeal to a wide group of ages....although I suggest someone pre-read them for children under the age of 11. And although I am sure a younger child could read them, I assure you they are so well-written in the delightful style of the 19th century so as to appeal to young adults as well. Lastly, they are wonderful reads for both boys and girls! Continue reading my thoughts at end of this post. Thank you!
Of interest: Read a full-length biography of Deborah Alcock's life here!

Crushed Yet Conquering  by Deborah Alcock

This tale of Constance and Bohemia will be under our BOHEMIA section at our table (One Covenant, Many Countries) at the Conference; also at the Inheritance Publications booth.

"A gripping story filled with accurate historical facts about John Huss and the Hussite wars.  Hardly any historical novel can be more captivating and edifying than this book."

This, the first Deborah Alcock book I read, has continued to be one of my very favorites of hers. Due to its length and heavy historical content, it is most suited for older children's reading; but all can enjoy it. 

The Spanish Brothers by Deborah Alcock

"He could not die thus for his faith.  On the contrary, it cost him but little to conceal it.  What, then, had they which he had not?  Something that enabled even poor, wild, passionate Gonsalvo to forgive and pray for the murderers of the woman he loved.  What was it?"

This well-written story portrays an intriguing story where two devoted brothers plan to find their long-lost father.  While the one brother, Carlos, went off for training to be a priest, the other, Juan became a soldier.  Read of their adventures and, ever more so, of their faith as they face persecution during the time of Spanish Inquisition. One of the most colorful and dramatic of Deborah Alcock's books, this is my sister Jessie's favorite along with Dr. Adrian (see below). And one of my favorite as well.

Done And Dared In Old France by Deborah Alcock
Inheritance Publication's Huguenot Inheritance Series #7

Read of the faith and courage of 10-year-old Gaspard who flees from France to England.  Captivating, inspiring, and historically accurate, this exciting book tells the story of a young boy of Huguenot family  who, captured by salt-smugglers, attempts to join his family in England. The famous (historic) Claude Brousson plays an important part in the life of (fictional) Gaspard. 

Doctor Adrian by Deborah Alcock

Through unexpected circumstances, scholar Doctor Adrian became involved in supporting the Protestant cause.  In this book, you will feel the tragedy of the Seige of Leyden as the Dutch felt it, understand the hope those same citizens experienced when William of Orange (William the Silent) came to succor them, and feel the personal turmoil in the life of the fictional Dr. Adrian....This inspiring, exciting story is a tale of his conversion.  Along with The Spanish Brothers, this is my sister Jessie's favorite. 

The Baron of Salgas; The Cross and The Crown; The Carpenter of Nimes by Deborah Alcock and Sabine Malplach

THE BARON OF THE SALGAS, A True Huguenot Story by Sabine Malplach  AND:
THE CROSS AND THE CROWN & THE CARPENTER OF NIMES, Two Huguenot Stories by Deborah Alcock

Three tales of the the danger faced by the Huguenots of France, involving family relations, imprisonment, and escapes. Although I own this book, I have hardly read it as of yet....it looks very good though!

By Far Euphrates by Deborah Alcock

This is one of Deborah Alcock's best. It is incredibly moving since it takes place in the 19th century, a time when the majority of the western world was living in ease and prosperity! In writing his, Deborah Alcock studied so in depth the trials of the Armenian christians and heard so many heart-renching stories from a missionary friend who had been there that not only did she sum up the horrors of the massacres in Armenia with this simple sentence in the book: “We will not read about this subject; we will not think of it.  It is too horrible. … We cannot take up this burden in addition to the rest.  It would sink us.”; but she also became very ill from the strain of putting herself in the place mentally of these suffering Armenian Christians. Of all her books, this one touched her life the most deeply since the tragedies had been played out during her lifetime. Her goal with this book in fact was to bring to the light the martyrdom of the Armenian christians, and to raise money for the widows, orphans and mutilated survivors of the massacres! Although this could be an incredibly gruesome book, I think Miss Alcock did a marvelous job of showing only what could be stomached by us weak people of the western world! 

Again....if you like books by G.A.Henty, Ballantyne, Robert Louis Stevenson, Douglas Bond or Lamplighter Publishing books....I trust you will love these just as much. And I totally recommend substituting these  historical fiction books for any non-christian historical fiction or fiction and definitely fantasy books you now have on your shelves!....ENJOY.

Photos: Tamburitzans show part 2

As promised.... more pictures from the Tamburitzans show I mentioned in a previous post:
One of the best shows! The second half was especially colorful, as you will see in the following pictures! I had SO much fun taking pictures. :) I was torn between my desire to just WATCH, and my wish to keep clicking pictures! So I did both. :) I especially like photographing dances which we have seen in the past because I know when the most amazing parts of the dance come; and whether I should attempt to take pictures or not at those great times!
For this final half of the show, there were vibrant dances from Russia, Ukraine, Slovak gypsies, Roma (Romanian gypsies-yay!), Romania, and Bulgaria! There were also beautiful pieces of music and song, but since I can't share the sounds of them with you, I'll focus on pictures of the dances...

Duquesne University Tamburitzans 75th season show part 2:
Russian dance: ''Summer'' (made famous by Moiseyev dance ensemble)

Alot of Ukrainian performers in the Tamburitzans group this year; the main dancers Natalia and Vassili are Ukrainian which was very fitting. :)

And the dance begins! I love the way it starts slowly....but reaches a beautiful climax!

My camera is not quick enough to catch the amazing athletics! But I love these. :)

This is definitely a favorite dance, and the Tamburitzans did a marvelous job with it! One of the best renditions.)

Here....is the Moiseyev dance group doing the same dance (Summer), and I want you to watch one of the best climaxes ever in a dance! Start at 4:00 on this video of the Moiseyev Ballet company!(You can watch all of it, if you like- but specifically 4:00 onwards. :) LOVE it!)

(''Summer'' dance performed by Moiseyev dance company)

I also found this: start at 4:57!  :)

That is the same ''climax'' that I'm talking about!

(The whole thing looks pretty neat, but I might lose you if you start watching it from the beginning- it's 7 minutes long!)

Oh- and girls only (on account of short skirt): watch from 6:35 to 6:45....isn't that what you've always wanted to do?

Some twirling!!! :)

Anyway....that's the same dance the Tammies did. :)

The Tamburitzans ''doing the climax''!!! YAY!

Some dancers (Denitsa Tuneva in front)watching a soloist twirl across the stage (like in movie, if you watched far enough)

The Tammies were, in a way BETTER than the Moiseyev ballet company, since they added a whole part to the dance with AMAZING men's acrobatics. :) yay!

OH! The ending is fabulous, as well! (make sure you watch it on video above!) The Tamburitzans did it JUST as great-ly as the Moiseyev company! So thrilling.

Triumphant ending

Nikola Vranjasevic

This was a fun piece with all men playing instruments and each would hand his instrument to another while he ''showed off'' with amazing dance steps (gypsy), and then switch so another could show his talents! Good stuff. :)

Alex Cartwright, accordionist

The all-girls dance was a combination of sweetness and playfulness: Laundry girls from Ukraine! Plenty of beautiful twirling, which Ukrainians are talented at! (Note:the Tamburitzans would have presented this dance even if they didn't happen to have a lot of Ukrainian girls as performers, but this year they just happened to, so the dance looked especially good. I mean....Bulgarian girls can do it, but it just wouldn't look the same!:))

Ukrainian laundry girls:Natalia Tarasiuk, Natalka Karaman, Irena Goudimiak....

Another dance in the show:

A Slovak Gypsy dance called ''Dance of the Violins''!  A very pretty dance, half traditional, half stylized, with the movements based on the motions of playing a violin.....a beautiful choreographed dance, and the costumes were a girls' dream! (well....mine at least ;))

Although I could not get any clear pictures, I think the blurry-ness just adds to the colorful ''gypsy'' feel, don't you?

Look at the girl on the left:isn't that pretty, with it being all fuzzy, and she's looking down, and her toes are pointed, and the color of red is so lovely....

The end (note the position of their arms, as if they were playing violin....very neat! Oh, and it's fun because they all dance so well, but each has her unique style! Note: every dancer was Ukrainian! They've never had so many Ukrainian solo dancers before!:))

NEXT....pictures from the ROMA dances! Yay! The Romanian gypsy dances are more sophisticated than what you might be imagining from seeing Russian, Slovakian or even Spanish gypsy dances, and with just enough fun gypsy stuff to make you LOVE watching it. (seriously, they are good dances)

We specifically enjoy watching the men's solos, with their amazing footwork, stamping and clapping.

(a tiny note to friends: if you ever wonder what my brother is trying to be when he's clapping and stamping at our dance practices-specifically during the Virginia Reel- it's a gypsy. Just thought I'd tell you. :)

And it's a worthy endeavor, I assure you!)

Romanian gypsies couples dance

Ahh....vibrancy!!!

We also always enjoy the Greek bouzouki music and songs:

Andrew Dorfner playing bouzoukee

Nikola Vranjasevic playing bouzoukee

And now...drum roll....the best costumed dance of the show! We LOVE these colours! The women's outfit is spectacular. :)
This is a Romanian dance, and every picture I am going to show you from it is a favorite! (I was particularly able to snap good pictures of the beginning of this dance because it is very elegant and slow, and because I had already seen a previous rendition of it, so I was prepared. :))

LOVE this scene!

The dance speeds up!

You think this women's costume can't get any better.....but then they turn and you see that there's a golden butterfly embroidered on the backs of the vests! Amazing! :)

The beautiful Natalka Karaman!

Surprisingly....that dance wasn't the finale of the evening. There was more music, and a sweet Jewish song/dance, before the exciting finale dance!

Freshmen Tammies

....That finale dance was a Bulgarian Shope dance!!! Very intense, energetic, and exciting:

The men

The girls coming forward

Everyone dancing together

Waving goodbye until another year!

The Tamburitzans were very busy that night: they drove in just to perform for us in Illinois, then straightways after had to drive back to Pittsburgh PA to perform the following day! Thank you!

(although the Tammies were rushed to leave, we managed to continue our ''picture with a Tammie'' tradition. Happily, that Tammie happened to be Nick Jovonovich, a great family favorite!

From left to right:Nikola, Élodie, Sam, Nick, Marjo/Alexandre, Jessie/Valérie, and in front: Katia and Laura-Lise.

Good memories of a delightful event. :)

I hope you all enjoyed the pictures, and were inspired!!!

See even more pictures from this show here in my facebook album!

Before you leave, I want to assure you:

you NEED to see this show. You will NOT be disappointed. The way they present their show is priceless. The costumes, music, choreographies are both authentic and beautifully arranged.

(note to my conservative friends: this show is wonderful for the whole family! I can not say that about every single show, but this season was perfect for all of your family to watch and ENJOY! And I will give you a heads up when their new season begins....and whether I think it is entirely ''family friendly'' or not. :) )

Although the group is finishing its performance routine this season, you can still catch a show!

If you are in Pittsburgh PA, Williamsport PA, or New York City NY: You still have time to catch a show before the Tamburitzans finish their 75th season!
http://www.duq.edu/tamburitzans/sch_03mar.cfm (click that)

If you are in Paramus NJ, McHenry MD, Allentown PA, Euclid OH, you can still see the group in April!
click here: http://www.duq.edu/tamburitzans/sch_04apr.cfm

And I'll post again when the Tamburitzans announce the 76th season show, and give you a ''preview'' of what the show will be like.....:) I hope many of you will go enjoy this group this season or next!

To my new Serbian readers and friends....

I wanted to say ''thank you'' to all the Serbians who wrote such enthusiastic  comments to me.  I am also grateful to you for sharing links to videos about your country, and of the dance and musical videos.  Thank you for your advice and information about your language, as well. I think I will be able to learn it quickly.
I am SO happy that so many enjoyed what I wrote about Serbia. You made my week very exciting, since I got to hear from so many people! I hope everyone continues to have fun looking at my blog, and my pictures on facebook. (By the way, thank you for following them!)  Again, you are so friendly and you make me and my family want to visit Serbia even more than we did before! 
Also thank you for telling me about the newspapers and websites that I was published in!

In your comments, some of you had questions which I did not get a chance to answer earlier; I will try to answer them here:

Yes- I would enjoy it if anyone could share their favorite recipes with me! The Serbian recipes which we have tried so far have been delicious. I would love to try more!

Another question was:  ''How did you hear about Serbia?''

Here is my answer: Our family has always loved other cultures and countries; and I grew up enjoying our studies of different countries, making foods from those countries and watching the folk dances. But I don’t think we would have EVER heard of, or fallen in love with less commonly known countries like Serbia if it hadn’t been for a group here in the states called ‘’The Duquesne University Tamburitzans’’. They authentically represent the countries of eastern and southern Europe through folk dance, music and song!

 

The Duquesne University Tamburitzans in Serbian costumes in 2009

Duquesne University Tamburitzans performed this dance in 2009

The Duquesne University Tamburitzans have a wonderful goal of preserving the timeless folk traditions of Eastern and Southern Europe (and surrounding regions) for generations to come. They have certainly met that goal. Most of the performers have Eastern European backgrounds, while others are from Bulgaria, Macedonia or Serbia.

Serbian ''Tamburitzan'' Srdjan Males

Filip Petkovski from Macedonia, and Nick Jovonovich who is Serbian-American

Mitko Nikolov, Macedonian

We saw our first Duquesne University Tamburitzan show in 2003 or 2004, and our love for the countries they portray grew steadily from there. My personal research of Serbia’s culture, history and geography began with my enthusiasm for the Serbian folk dances (particularly from Vlajna, Nis, and Sumadija), as well as my love for the lively folk music and songs. Listening to the beautiful old folk songs has also inspired us with a love for the language, and I am currently eagerly learning the Cyrillic alphabet.



Picture of the first Serbian dance we ever saw: Stara Vlajna performed by
 the Duquesne University Tamburitzans in 2004

About our costumes....
My older sister’s passion is sewing folkloric costumes; she and our Mum sew our costumes. My sister has even started her own business of little girls’ clothing based on ethnic costumes: Nonpareils Designs. (visit her site by clicking on the name!)
We are constantly inspired by the traditional clothing of southern and eastern europe.When making our costumes, my sister studies as best she can the details of the original folk costume. She usually only has dance videos to go from. We especially love making renditions of the beautiful folk clothing from your country and surrounding regions.
When my sister made my Nis costume, all she had for reference was one of our favorite dances on a video! For the embellishments on the coat, she did get some advice from the seamstress/wardrobe manager (who is also the wife of the director) of the Duquesne University Tamburitzans.

Povedi Oro Todoro- a dance by the Duquesne University Tamburitzans. Pictures are from the video of the dance. And this is what inspired us to make my Nis costume!

And the Nis costume we made from above dance video!

My costume inspiration!

(Me in my Nis costume which was based on above pictures)

The back of my costume

Picture of original Nis costume

Our  version of the costume!

Besides attending the annual show of the Tamburitzans which originally instilled in us a love for Serbia, we also like to go to other cultural events nearby.
Two years ago in September my family and I were able to go to a ''Tamburitza Extravaganza'' (link will lead you to my post about it!) which lasted 3 days. That special event featured music by dozens of tamburitza groups, wonderful Serbian folk dance workshops taught by Nikola Krcadinac, and more. Also included was a display of antique folk clothing from eastern and southern Europe, which gave us a chance to finally investigate in person several favorite folk costumes, some of which we had already copied as costumes for ourselves.

We even like to do our own festivals together as a family! For my birthday two years ago, my Mum surprised me with a table decorated Serbian-style, with jars and packages of foods from the country, pictures of the scenery, dolls in folk costumes, textiles, small drums to represent the tarambukan or tupan drums, and more. Completing the Serbian atmosphere, we made delicious foods including pljeskavica, palachinke, and cevapčići. (I will share more pictures sometime soon!)

Someone asked: Have you been to Europe before?
No, but it is one of my dreams to visit Serbia someday! I would love to see your country in person; I’ve read that Serbia is incredibly rich in natural beauty as well as culture! And thanks for the videos you shared; they showed us even more of the treasures of Serbia. Thank you!


Lastly....here are two videos of dances I really liked! I'm sure there are dozens more online. I could spend all day just looking them up and watching them. But since I don't have the time to do that, I appreciated all the links my Serbian readers shared!

Well...I must go now, but I hope to write more next week! Have a good weekend, all my readers and friends. :)