This is a fact-based novel as a testament to the love and loyalty of one extraordinary family.

Following the highly acclaimed story of the Sokolovskis’ first 70 years in South Africa, From Saratov to San Francisco II begins in Johannesburg the day after the Nationalist Party came to power and ends in the second decade of the 21st century, when democratic South Africa has been devastated by decades of cronyism, corruption, and crime. It encompasses international intrigue, conspiracy, tragedy, and no small amount of personal and professional success.

As globetrotting and heart-stopping as its predecessor, this novel tracks the family’s triumphs and tragedies, including journeys from Cape Town to Cairo to Cuzco, the ancient Peruvian capital. With one of its members being jailed in Sri Lanka, accused of murder, two of them captured by rebels in scenic but suddenly terrifying Madagascar, this story reminds us that little is as it seems.

Buying Iranian oil from the Shah’s regime and thus necessitating their escaping Tehran days before the Iranian Revolution, the family were continually challenged both morally and ethically. This included confronting Soviet-era inter-governmental and departmental politics to rescue starving Lev, 7, and Yana, 5, from a snowbound Moscow basement.

The Sokolovskis surmount almost impossible obstacles because they never forget the importance of family, the lessons of the past, and the promise of the future. This family’s story is written with tenderness, intelligence, and wit.