Real Lives, Fictional Paths: The Power of Family Lore with Author Tudor Alexander

My guest today on the Online for Authors podcast is Tudor Alexander, author of the books The Last Patient and In Darkness and Light. Alex Duvan, who publishes under the pen name Tudor Alexander, was born in Bucharest, Romania in 1950 and moved to the United States in 1977. He holds a Master’s degree from the Polytechnic Institute of Bucharest and an MBA from the University of Connecticut. Alex lives in Maryland with his wife, Viorica, and has a son, a daughter, and three grandchildren.

Alex started writing in high school, and enjoyed an early success, publishing many short stories in established literary magazines. Although writing was his passion, he studied engineering and management to support his family. After the 1989 Romanian revolution, he published several novels and short story collections in Romania, including The Runners, Smoke, Planet New York, One Morning and One Afternoon, and The Visitor.

Alex writes in both Romanian and English. He tells the story of immigrants struggling to adapt to a new country and a different culture, and finding the courage to overcome the fear of the unknown. They are people who, like the author, took a leap of faith to find political and intellectual freedom, despite the heartbreak of leaving friends and family behind. Was it worth it?

He is a member of the Maryland Writers Association and serves on the board of directors for the Little Patuxent Review, a biannual Maryland literary publication.

In my book review, I stated The Last Patient is a historical fiction by Tudor Alexander. This book captures what it was like to live in communist Romania during the 50 years after the end of World War II.

The two main characters are Kostea and Clara, both doctors and both trapped in a world not of their choosing. Kostea joins the communist party in hopes of advancing his career. Clara works in a lab so she has 9 to 5 hours and can be available to raise her son. Both struggle to figure out who they are in a world full of shared apartments, food shortages, and government corruption.

Although they love one another fiercely, they also make mistakes - some of them costly. They both also love their country and are fiercely Romanian, despite the current regime. I love how we see their ordinary lives and decisions against the backdrop of communism. We see joy and sadness and pride and fear. People find a way to live despite their circumstances.

I loved this book and think you will too.

In Darkness and Light is a histor