Meet the protagonist of “A Love Story for a Nation.”

Former novelist and young college professor. He and his ideologically-driven friends drove his beloved country to freedom some twenty years in the past. But as the new regime failed to live up to its promise, Gerald became marginalized in society. His famous work, “The Belle of Burgundy”, was banned, and he started writing a series of children books about a turtle named Tom. Once all state publishers spurned him, he quit writing and took a series of menial jobs just to make ends meet.

After years of being a guard at a state bank, he unexpectedly meets Rosia, a woman fifteen years his younger, who makes Gerald think twice about his bachelorhood. As he takes a step of faith to ask her to marry him, he’s shocked that she says “yes”, and his life begins to be radically changed by this unexpected love.

The novel itself begins on the one-year wedding anniversary of Gerald and Rosia, which sets in motion a series of events that Gerald would not have believed. His wife finds out he used to be a writer. She encourages him to pick back up his pen. A dear friend from the past, the outlaw revolutionary leader Horace, shows up with a group of young college students, who talk about the new freedoms seeping into society.

This is a story of love and revolution. Of courage and perseverance. This is a story of standing for what you believe, all the while with a benign smile on your face.

This is a story of how the past shapes and molds us, readying us for the greatest of tasks under the harshest of circumstances. This is the story of Gerald J. Sanpatri. Available for pre-order from: Amazon