Maya’s Dance is a powerful tale of survival, resilience and enduring love, based on an incredible true Holocaust story.
MAYA’S DANCE
Our dance. Do you remember how I spun and twirled? How I became more than a Jewish girl with battered shoes and dirty clothes – I became a part of the air, the trees, the sun. We did not know then what it would mean, how that dance would change our lives…
1942, Sawin, Poland: sixteen-year-old Maya Schulze is struggling to survive in a brutal Nazi labour camp. But despite days filled with hunger, fear and despair, she is able to find courage and beauty in dancing – it is only then that she feels free.
One day a camp guard watches Maya perform and both their destinies are changed forever. Jan falls in love with Maya and promises to protect her; Maya lives for their stolen moments together, when her heart can dance again. Jan ultimately plots Maya’s escape and promises to find her when the war is over, but fate cruelly intervenes.
Fifty years on, having received news that changes everything for her, Maya tells her story to journalist Kate Young. As their friendship grows, together they piece together the clues to find Jan before it’s too late.
About Helen
Helen is an English writer, journalist and communicator who has lived in Australia for 30 years.
Maya’s Dance is her first novel.