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Revisiting the Romanian Revolution in Ruta Sepetys' New Novel "I Must Betray You"

Ruta Sepetys
Author Ruta Sepetys

Ruta Sepetys is the New York Times Bestselling author of Between Shades of Gray, Out of the Easy, Salt to the Sea, and The Fountains of Silence. As an author she is skilled at writing stories that appeal to both young adult and adult readers and equally skilled at weaving historical research into compelling stories. Her new novel, I Must Betray You, is no exception. In this new novel Ruta takes us back to 1989 Romania; its citizens cut off from the rest of the world in the tight grip of tyranny under the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu. The story revolves around 17 year-old Cristian Florescu, who is blackmailed by the secret police into being an informant. Cristian struggles with these orders knowing that rebelling could mean harm to his family, yet he is angry and fed up with the poverty and broken spirits that life under Ceausecu has wrought on his country.

Tammy works at Bemidji State University's library, and she hosts "What We're Reading," a show about books and authors.