Garoong (The Crane)

In a rare merging of history & fiction, Garoong traces the lives of three generations in one Armenian family. Sahag Bagdasarian with his friend Avedis Belarian survive a bloody massacre by the Turks in Armenia, escape to America & find employment in the early twentieth century woolen mills of Lawrence, Mass. As immigrants, they struggle with fresh challenges–language, culture & environment. Yet their consuming passion remains–to free their people & recover their homeland. This obsession with the past heavily impacts the life of Sahag’s son, Antranig, first generation American. Rebelling against his father’s beliefs, Antranig seeks his identity apart from his Armenian roots, causing conflict between father & son. The tragic history of the Armenian genocide surfaces again, however, with Antranig’s son, Lance. Although only half Armenian, Lance, a college student in the radical sixties, is caught up with the Armenian cause & joins an Armenian activist group on campus. In a fast-paced & compelling drama, the saga moves to its conclusion when Lance is brought to a moment of acute personal crises & resolvement. With its compelling characters–courageous men & the independent, bold-spirited women who loved them, the book has broad general appeal.