Rachel Bassan

Rachel Bassan was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1952, a granddaughter of Jewish Russian-Ukrainian immigrants. She has a degree in Languages and Literature and before dedicating herself to literary studies and her own fiction writing, she was an English teacher and had a Tourism agency, for 25 years travelling the world with her clients. Her literary debut was in 2005 with a three-volume short-story collection entitled Crônicas de oficina (Workshop’s Chronicles).
In 2012, she published Nada é por acaso: crônicas da vida (Nothing Happens by Chance: Life Chronicles). Her sense of curiosity to know more about her Jewish roots along with her keen interest on History and travelling led her to Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and back to New York. After an extensive period of field research, readings and interviews with Russian scholars and Historians, Rachel wrote her first novel, Bela from Odessa.
BELA FROM ODESSA (BELA DE ODESSA)
owing the paths of Bela Sadowik and Mischka Sumbulovich, a young Jewish couple who is separated by Revolution and Civil War, the narrative alternates between Russia, Brazil, and the United States, the latter two countries to where each one fled separately from the other, and from the early 20th century up to nowadays. Affected by ideological and political fervor, the protagonists’ passion turns into an obsession as they fight for justice and their right to be happy.
Difficult choices that define their fates have to be made, and a surprising and ultimate twist takes the reader to an unexpected outcome.

“Bela of Odessa is a legitimate, fast-paced historical novel, with an engaging narrative, and an impeccable historical reconstitution”. – Rabbi Nilton Bonder

Publication/Status: Published by Editora dos Editores (Brazil) in September 2019.