When the War Was Here

An epic World War II tale of star-crossed lovers separated by class, circumstance and tragedy from the bestselling author of The Girl They Left Behind

Hungary, 1943. As war encroaches on the country’s borders, willful young Eva arrives in the idyllic town of Sopron to spend her last summer as a single woman on her aristocratic family’s estate. Longing for freedom from her domineering father, she counts the days to her upcoming nuptials to a kind and dedicated Red Cross doctor whom she greatly admires.

But Eva’s life changes when she meets Aleandro, a charming and passionate Romani fiddler with a love for painting. With time and profound class differences against them, Eva and Aleandro still fall deeply in love – only to be separated by a brutal act of hatred.

As their lives diverge and they are each swept into the tides of war and its aftermath they try to forget what they once shared. But as the years pass, the haunting memory of their romance will reshape their destinies and drive them to decisions that will change their lives forever.

From the horrors of World War II to the tensions of the 1956 Hungarian uprising and beyond, When the War Was Here is a sweeping story about the toll of secrets, the blurred lines between desire and loyalty, sacrifice and obsession, and the endurance of the human spirit.

About the Author

Roxanne Veletzos was born in Bucharest, Romania, and moved to California with her family as a young teen. Already fluent in English and French, she began writing short stories about growing up in her native Eastern Europe, at first as a cathartic experience as she transitioned to a new culture. With a bachelor’s degree in journalism, she has worked as an editor, content writer, and marketing manager for a number of Fortune 500 companies. Her debut novel, published in multiple languages, is an international bestseller. Roxanne lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.