The Widow's Opera

<P class=MsoNormal style=MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify><U>The Widow's Opera</U> is the story of people whose lives have been uprooted by the cataclysms of the twentieth century - World War II Stalin's purges and earlier the Armenian Genocide.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office /><o:p></o:p></P><P class=MsoNormal style=MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify>The novel chronicles the life of Ursa Smirny a Polish refugee in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags /><st1:City><st1:place>New York City</st1:place></st1:City>.<SPAN style=mso-spacerun: yes>  </SPAN>It also recounts her friendship with the ruthless Nina Morphy and Nina's mysterious husband nicknamed Morpheus by the murderers thieves and other felons of the prisons where he spends his time.<SPAN style=mso-spacerun: yes>  </SPAN>Among the many minor characters some are comic like the benighted Mr. Darkwood and some otherworldly like Mr. Tannini; a self-styled nineteenth-century humanist and bibliophile.<SPAN style=mso-spacerun: yes>  </SPAN>But it is also a story of betrayal murder and revenge that moves quickly from the first page to the last.<o:p></o:p></P>