Destiny of Determination

"Destiny of Determination: Faith and Family" illuminates the stark realities of immigrants determined to settle in America, a land of opportunity and freedom. While young Hrant''s Armenian story parallels the horrors experienced by far too many cultures in both the past and present, Book 2 in the Destiny Trilogy also highlights the strength and hope that live within survivors of various nightmares. To people who have escaped genocide, prejudice and bigotry can appear as manageable hurdles. More fact than fiction, the writing style of the author (a recovering journalist) is straightforward as if she is speaking directly to the reader.

Book 1 found Hrant Gulumian, the youngest child in his family, deeply relating to his granddaughter, Cassie when her nightmares precisely mirrored his traumatic childhood experiences. "Destiny of Dreams: Time Is Dear" shared young Hrant''s harrowingly narrow escape from the mass deportations and attempted annihilation of the Armenians in the waning years of the Ottoman Empire.

Despite the hauntingly intense and dramatic truths in Book 1, the Destiny Trilogy resumes with the powerful hope and strength known only to survivors. Book 2 completes Hrant''s voyage and sweeps the reader into his family''s new life in the USA, illuminating the vulnerability of the diaspora and all forced refugees in a new and unfamiliar land filled with language, cultural, and discrimination challenges.

Author Martin celebrates her family''s quiet determination and refusal to lose faith, despite intolerance and numerous economic woes, eerily paralleled in modern society. Set in the 20th Century, her family''s true story shines as a beacon of optimism and comfort for countless other families, hailing from many nations and struggling to endure on the way to freedom and a chance for a better life in this century.