A copy of the Barmaley Fountain, with its statue of six children dancing around a crocodile, was erected in 2013 in memory of the soldiers and civilians who died in Stalingrad. The original statue was removed in the 1950s, just before Stalingrad was renamed Volgograd.
The massacre of the Jewish village, involving the shooting dead of ninety children, under the age of seven years, is not fictional.
Sergeant Jakob Pavlov was made a Hero of the Soviet Union. The fight for the house, forever thereafter known as Pavlov’s House, lasted fifty-eight days. Rumour has it that more German soldiers lost their lives in trying to take Dom Pavlov than in the capture of Paris. In recognition of his incredible achievement, the sergeant was duly nicknamed the ‘Houseowner’. Later on, he found religion and became a monk, choosing to live in peace as a man of God. Whenever he was asked if he was ‘the’ famous Pavlov from the battle of Stalingrad, he would refuse to say one way or another.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I wish to thank the following for reading the book at different stages and providing me with much-needed tips and encouragement: Joe Butler, Niall Carney, Anna Keating, Damian Keenan, Chloe Redmond, Jack Freeney, Patricia Emms and Kate Kurevleva.
Writing a book can be a lonely and terrifying experience but that is nothing to handing over the first draft to be edited and made good enough to publish. My editor Susan Houlden deserves something better than this mention of thanks. She was a constant champion of the story and kept me sane when the nerves would hit over the months that I/we worked on the book.
I want to thank designer and artist Emma Byrne for a truly beautiful cover. I pray that the story lives up to the promise of her work.
My thanks to Michael O’Brien and the rest of the staff of the O’Brien Press. It is an honour to be part of their stable of writers.
About the Author
Tallaght-born Nicola Pierce lives in Drogheda. Following her many successful ghostwritten books for adults, Nicola published her first book for children, Spirit of the Titanic. The book received rave reviews, and ran to five printings within its first twelve months. City of Fate is her second book for children and transports the reader deep into the Russian city of Stalingrad during World War II.
Reviews of Spirit of Titanic
‘A ghost story with a twist’
‘Little did I know that this book would be gripping, exciting and unimaginably shattering’
‘A vivid and compelling story … the detail fascinating and the terror real’
‘Captivating’
‘This familiar story does not fail to grip the reader’
‘Intriguing’
‘Pierce delivers some masterful narrative which will hold children aged 10 upwards enthralled’
‘I absolutely adored this book. It makes you feel like you were there’
‘A huge 10 out of 10’
Copyright
This eBook edition first published 2014 by The O’Brien Press Ltd,
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Website: www.obrien.ie
First published 2014
eBook ISBN: 978–1–84717–649–3
Copyright for text © Nicola Pierce 2014
Copyright for editing, typesetting, layout, design © The O’Brien Press Ltd
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Cover image: Emma Byrne/iStockphoto
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