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Victoria Ichizli-Bartels is a writer and specialist in information technology, semiconductor physics, and electronic engineering. She grew up in Moldova, lived in Germany for twelve years, and now lives in Aalborg, Denmark, with her husband and two children.
Her first novel “The Truth About Family”, and Book 1 in series “A Life Upside Down” titled “A Spy’s Daughter” were published in 2015. The prequel “Seven Broken Pieces” to the series “A Life Upside Down” was published in the beginning of 2016.
In May 2016 Victoria has published a motivational e-book "5 Minute Perseverance Game: Play Daily for a Month and Become The Ultimate Procrastination Breaker".
Reviewed by Trudi LoPreto for Readers' Favorite
The Truth About Family by Victoria Ichizli-Bartels is a no frills, very directly written story about a young man from the Ukraine during World War II. He is looking back on his life and trying to find the family he was separated from, but doesn’t remember, as he was only a toddler at the time. Misha has now left the orphanage he had known as his only home to study at the University of Odessa. He makes lifelong friends along the way and each tries to help him find his lost family and his peace of mind. Slowly they each have a part in molding him into the man he will become. His search for love is rewarded after several failed attempts, and the family he longs for becomes real after he suffers pain, confusion, and heartbreak.
The Truth About Family is a historical novel, but it seems very real and perhaps is more fact than fiction. Victoria Ichizli-Bartels has used her father’s life as a blueprint for this story, and I believe that is what allows Misha’s thoughts, actions and feelings to be so real. The Truth About Family is not a normal, run of the mill story, but more of an in-depth look into how a young boy becomes a man. It is accurately told, using real life events that took place during a time of financial strife and wartime hardships. If you enjoy reading historical fiction that mimics real life, then you don’t want to pass up The Truth About Family.
