Adriana Allegri
  • Welcome
  • About Adriana
  • About The Sunflower House
  • Signed Books
  • Book Clubs
  • Events
  • Media
  • Blog
  • FAQ
  • Resources
  • Contact

Day: November 24, 2024

The Sunflower House, The Writing Process, Uncategorized, Writing Inspiration

A Playlist for The Sunflower House

November 24, 2024

I used dozens of pieces of music to write The Sunflower House, since music is a huge part of my creative process. Music always get the words flowing because it helps me get into character.

Read more

  • On July 4th
  • Harsh Nazi Parenting Guidelines May Still Affect German Children of Today
  • A Playlist for The Sunflower House
  • How U.S. Eugenics Policies and Racial Laws Inspired Adolf Hitler
  • Finding Light in the Darkness

adrianaallegri

THE SUNFLOWER HOUSE @stmartinspress ORDER AT LINKS BELOW 📚 author, book lover, cat mama, optimist, she/her. Repped by @victresslizz

Bliss! Got to spend some precious time with my bea Bliss! Got to spend some precious time with my beautiful cousins yesterday who'd come to Tucson for a spontaneous trip. 

We met up at a favorite Mesa breakfast place, @tceggingtons, as they were on their way up to Phoenix to the airport. So glad our schedules synched up!  Emmy and Jonathon are getting so big and it was fabulous catching up on all the latest news with @alanasorgedias and @pls172 đź’—

Cousin time ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Ciao, Italia! This lovely, romantic, dreamy cover Ciao, Italia! This lovely, romantic, dreamy cover is for the Italian translation of The Sunflower House, released July 4.

In this case, the title “La Casa dei Girasoli" is a direct translation of the original.

It's thrilling to see this book shared with a global audience. The different titles and cover artwork are fascinating and designed to appeal to their unique markets, and I’ll share each as it comes out this summer and fall.

@newtoncomptoneditori - Grazie per aver condiviso con i tuoi lettori la storia di speranza e resistenza di Allina!

Thank you for sharing Allina's story of hope and resistance with your readers!

***

From the publisher:

In un sonnolento villaggio tedesco, la vita di Allina Strauss sembra idilliaca: lavora nella libreria dello zio, prepara lo strudel con la zia e trascorre i fine settimana con gli amici e il fidanzato. Ma è il 1939, Adolf Hitler è cancelliere e Allina nasconde un segreto terrificante: sua madre era ebrea, il che la rende una Mischling. Dopo una notte fatale, in cui perde tutti i suoi cari, Allina è costretta a lavorare come infermiera in una “fabbrica di neonati” gestita dallo Stato, la Hochland Haus. In quel luogo diventa testimone e partecipe degli orrori dello spietato Programma Lebensborn, il progetto di eugenetica ideato da Heinrich Himmler. Allina deve celare la sua origine ebraica per sopravvivere, ma quando scopre le violenze che si verificano all’interno di Hochland Haus, è determinata a salvare non solo sé stessa, ma anche i bambini che le vengono affidati. Non sarà da sola, perché verrà aiutata da Karl, un alto ufficiale delle SS che a sua volta nasconde dei segreti. Insieme dovranno decidere quanto sono disposti a condividere l’uno con l’altra e quanto possono rischiare mentre uniscono le forze per mettere in salvo più bambini possibile.

More info/purchase links:

https://www.newtoncompton.com/libro/la-casa-dei-girasoli

#LaCasadeiGirasoli  #TheSunflowerHouse

@stmartinspress
I thought about my mom this morning, who passed 3 I thought about my mom this morning, who passed 3 years ago. I recalled a day in high school, a test I was studying for on the U.S. Constitution. She was frustrated with me because I was memorizing to "get the A." The meaning, she said, was more important than the grade on a multiple-choice test. 

My mother knew more about the Constitution than I because she immigrated from Italy in the 1950s. She naturalized before marrying my dad, and a civics test was part of that process. Imagine that–taking out your naturalization certificate to show your daughter, while I complained about memorizing all that stuff for a “silly test.”

Back in the 1950s, the U.S. government was more transparent about the need for workers to perform "unskilled” labor, something immigrants have always been eager to do. They want the chance at the American Dream so they do the work—all the invisible jobs most citizens don’t want to do. 

Today, it's a political football. Folks who scream “Do it the right way!” don’t realize how broken the system is. Many don’t care. It can take decades to get a green card. Yet there is a need for people to fill those jobs.

This week was a new low in an administration that plays “how low can you go” on a regular basis. Sure, let’s abduct people off the street without due process. Then we’ll create holding pens that are built for misery. What the heck- we’ll even joke about feeding them to the alligators. Laura Loomer claims there’s enough to feed 65 million alligators! Except there aren’t 65 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. That’s the number of Latinx folks. A coincidence? I don’t think so.

Anti-immigrant, racist sentiment is ugly but nothing new. Movements like this rise with White Nationalism. I know my mother would be as heartsick and angry as I am because she believed in the dignity and decency of humans. She had compassion. She saw the ugliness that was spewed but remained hopeful—because of the Constitution. She believed it would save us, if there were men and women of honor to defend it.

Today we celebrate, no matter how imperfect our union. I choose to remain hopeful. Time to buckle up.

Full blog here: adriana-allegri.com/on-july-4th/
HAPPY PUB DAY to the amazing @fictionbyshellysande HAPPY PUB DAY to the amazing @fictionbyshellysanders and congrats on the release of her fabulous new book The Night Sparrow -- a gripping story of a young Jewish girl who joins an elite Russian sniper unit and embarks on a mission targeting the highest prize of WWII: Adolf Hitler.

So excited!!!

***

With the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, Elena Bruskina’s world collapses. The ambitious university student and her Jewish family are quickly forced into the Minsk ghetto where thousands are immediately murdered, including her father and brother. Then her younger sister is publicly executed on false charges and her mother is shot. Alone with her grief, Elena escapes the ghetto, determined to avenge her family’s deaths.

Heading to Moscow, she enrolls in the Red Army’s newly created Central Women’s Sniper Training School.  After rigorous training,  she becomes a member of an all-female sniper platoon, a community of brave young women willing to give their lives to defend their country. Then Elena is chosen for a secret mission—a daring and highly dangerous plan to capture the face of evil itself: Hitler. 

Inspired by the real-life female snipers and interpreters in the Red Army during World War II, The Night Sparrow is a portrait of friendship, resilience, courage, and sacrifice under extraordinary circumstances. 

#TheNightSparrow
@harperperennial @harpercollinsca
Day 182 đź’— Today's inspiration is from author G Day 182 đź’—  Today's inspiration is from author Glennon Doyle Melton, and a reminder of the importance of practicing compassion. This hits particularly hard today given what is happening in our country.

If our leaders can't make compassionate choices, then it's all the more important that we practice compassion ourselves.
This gorgeous, romantic cover is for the Danish tr This gorgeous, romantic cover is for the Danish translation of The Sunflower House, released today, July 1.

In this case, the title “Solsikkehuset" is a direct translation of the original.

It's thrilling to see this book shared with a global audience. The different titles and cover artwork are fascinating and designed to appeal to their unique markets, and I’ll share each as it comes out this summer and fall.

@forlagetgyldendal -Tak fordi du delte Allinas historie om håb og modstand med dine læsere!

Thank you for sharing Allina's story of hope and resistance with your readers!

***

From the publisher:

Året er 1939, Adolf Hitler er kansler, og den unge tyske kvinde Allina bliver betroet en skræmmende hemmelighed – hendes biologiske mor var jøde.

Voldsomme begivenheder fører til, at Allina bliver afleveret på et særligt kvindehjem ved navn Heim Hochland. Her bliver kvinder af ”rent” blod indlogeret for at føde børn, der bliver bortadopteret til nazistiske familier for at styrke den ariske race. Allina bliver ansat som barneplejerske og kommer tæt på SS-officeren Karl, som har sine egne hemmeligheder. Da hun bliver bekendt med rædslerne på stedet, er hun fast besluttet på ikke bare at redde sig selv, men også de børn, hun har ansvaret for.

Solsikkehuset er en gribende og hjerteskærende roman om kærlighed og medmenneskelighed i en af historiens mørkeste perioder og de hemmeligheder, vi skjuler for at beskytte os selv.

More info/purchase links:

www.gyldendal.dk/produkter/solsikkehuset-9788702427363

#solsikkehuset #TheSunflowerHouse

@stmartinspress
This drawing is by Anja Rozen, a 13-year-old prima This drawing is by Anja Rozen, a 13-year-old primary school student in Slovenia. She was chosen from 600,000 children around the world to create a piece of art to show what peace looks like.

She is the winner of the international Plakat Miru competition.

"My drawing represents the land that binds us and unites us."

"Humans are woven together. If someone gives up, others fall. We are all connected to our planet and to each other, but unfortunately we are little aware of it. We are woven together. Other people weave alongside me my own story; and I weave theirs," said the young designer.

Original poster: Bring Side on Facebook
Absolutely love this. It would probably do my back Absolutely love this. It would probably do my back some good...
I read these two gems last week, tiny books that p I read these two gems last week, tiny books that packed a lot into few pages. "On Tyranny" came in from my library. It was new to me and I recommend it to everyone.

I first read Chodron in the early 2000s. For me, her most important message is: World peace can't be had when we are not at peace with ourselves, our families, and our communities. Peace, like love, can't be forced.

From Practicing Peace in Times of War:

"War and peace start in the hearts of individuals. Strangely enough, even though all beings would like to live in peace, our method for obtaining peace over the generations seems not to be very effective: we seek peace and happiness by going to war...

War begins when we harden our hearts and we harden them easily--in minor ways and then in quite serious, major ways, such as hatred and prejudice--whenever we feel uncomfortable...

We can talk about ending war and we can march for ending war, we can do everything in our power, but war is never going to end as long as our hearts are hardened against each other. War and peace start in the human heart."

***

Progress is made with open hearts, not in fear.

I've tried the alternative. Escalation and a closed heart led to more pain. đź’”

When there are many concerns, it can be overwhelming.The increase in violent political rhetoric which leads to violence. White Christian Nationalism and its attack on people of color, the LGBTQ community, and anyone of different religious beliefs. The growing gulf between us and our cherished allies. Masked men without warrants who seize people without due process. Actions that hurt the most vulnerable and children in particular, because every child is born innocent into this world. They deserve better.

It comes down to compassion for other human beings or the lack of it. 

So what to do? I work at keeping my heart open, not to deny reality but to stave off the downward spiral, the doomscrolling. I need that energy to act, which is important.

Wishing you peace today and the strength to work towards a better future, whether it's calling reps, volunteering, protesting, economic pressure, info sharing, or (most important) loving your family, friends, and neighbors. đź’—
I had a fantastic time Zooming with this lovely gr I had a fantastic time Zooming with this lovely group of women about The Sunflower House! They had great questions that kept me on my toes -- great discussion about Hochland Home rules and Nazi-era child-rearing, the research and writing process, and the music behind the book.

Thanks again -- and special thanks to @sharonmirarchi for scheduling!

I love book clubs!  You can invite me to yours and download book club resources from my website:

www.adriana-allegri.com/book-clubs/

#TheSunflowerHouse
@stmartinspress
LOVE THIS -- A library in San Diego now has $30,00 LOVE THIS -- A library in San Diego now has $30,000 more in funding after Moms for Liberty tried to remove LGBTQ books during Pride Month. We need more of this energy. Community in action. 

Thanks @librarian.space 

#pridemonth
#librariesareawesome
Day 170 ❤️ An important reminder from Alice Wa Day 170 ❤️ An important reminder from Alice Walker. If we are one people, and I believe we are, then one person can also make a difference in a positive way. Every small act of kindness has a ripple effect, not only on the person or people you're helping, but on all of us.
Follow on Instagram
Copyright © 2025 Adriana Allegri. All rights reserved.
Theme: marlin-lite by VolThemes. Powered by WordPress.