Out of the Transylvania Night

'I'd grown up in the land of Transylvania, homeland to Dracula, Vlad the Impaler, and, worse, the Communist dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu-who turned Romania into a land of gray-clad zombies who never dared to show their individuality,' says the author, 'and where neighbors became informants, and the Securitate made people disappear. Daylight empowered the regime to encircle us like starved wolves, and so night had always been the time to steal a bit of freedom. As if bred into our Transylvanian blood, we were like vampires who came to life after sundown!'

Dr. Aura Imbarus vividly details Christmas Day 1989, when she, her parents and hundreds of shoppers drew sudden sniper fire as Romania descended into the violence of a revolution that challenged one of the most draconian regimes in the Soviet bloc. Aura recalls a grisly execution that rocked the world and led to five harrowing days of bloody chaos as she and her family struggled to survive. The next day, Communist-controlled television released photos showing that dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife had been assassinated-though many Romanians, the author included, believed the executions had been staged since Ceausescu was known for using stand-ins to pose for him. Nevertheless, Aura tries to convince herself that life post-revolution will be different, but little changes.

On May 7, 1997, with two pieces of luggage and a powerful dream, Aura and her new husband flee to America. Through sacrifice and hard work, the couple acquires a home, cars, and travel-but trying to be American is much more complicated than they expect. More difficulties set in: the stock market crash takes their savings, house, and cars; thieves steal three centuries' worth of heirloom jewels; and Aura's beloved mother dies.

Aura's marriage crumbles under the stress. Devastated, she asks herself, 'How much of one's life is owed to others?' and 'Is it possible to straddle two cultures and not lose one's identity?' Tested even further by the vagaries of fate, Aura realizes that to resurrect herself, she must reconstruct her life. She becomes involved with the Romanian-American Professionals Network (RAPN), whose mission is to help Romanian

immigrants adjust to American life without sacrificing their heritage. In this work, Aura discovers a startling truth a