Introduction

For My Dear Readers, With Kind Regards from the Author All of my novels are based on the fates of real people. Any resemblance to the names and lives of actual people is purely coincidental, and all locations mentioned are used in a fictional manner.

I sincerely hope that the fates of my heroines will help someone out of despair, and to find the answers to life’s seemingly insoluble questions.

I dedicate My Angel, my first book in English, to my beloved son Sergey. For her children a woman is ready to overcome any difficulty. Children imbue our lives with light, color, and meaning. Sergey has inspired my life with meaning. (He has also had bad luck, and maybe one day I will write about it.)

Neither this book, nor any of my others would have ever been written, nor would have seen the light of day if it hadn’t been for my friends. To them I owe the fact that I had the heart to start writing, and if they hadn’t supported me in this endeavor, then, of course, I couldn’t have managed this by myself. I am grateful to them from the bottom of my heart.

The first thank-you I devote to my friend Irina Remezova. She was the one to convince me that the people I met along my way would be wonderful material for books. That the stories of life can help someone to find faith and a way out of the messes we all the time get into. Therefore there is something to tell and to share with the reader. It seemed that I never would, because it was one thing to talk, and quite another to write it so that it would be interesting to the reader. (Not to mention publishing the book, which wouldn’t have happened if it were not for Irina.)

For the book design I am grateful to my longtime friend, a gifted artist and a wonderful woman, Natalia Korolyova. Natasha understood everything I wanted to express in this book, s no one else could.

The first editor and admirer of my talent was Alyona Madosik. We had to wander thousands of miles from our homeland to distant Alaska to finally meet. My Angel was written here in Alaska; I rolled the dice and entrusted it to Alyona.

Thank you, my dear husband, for doing your best to give me the courage to start writing. Thank you for having faith in me, and helping. You are one of the dearest people in my life. Without you and your support, this book would have never been created.

And now, dear readers, a few words for you. I truly hope you will enjoy My Angel, and the characters in my book. If they somehow help you to find a way out of a difficult situation, I will be doubly satisfied.

And now, good luck. God be with you.