Barbara Ortwein, author of “A Summer in Spillville in 1893: Historical Novel about the Journey of the Dvorak Family to Iowa,” will speak on the topic of her book at the monthly program of the Decorah Genealogy Association, at 7 p.m., Oct. 23, at the Decorah VFW, 104 State St., Decorah.
The program is open to the public, free-will donations accepted.
Ortwein’s novel imagines the story of how the composer Czech Antonin Dvorak came to work at the National Conservatory of Music in New York City in 1892. The next year, feeling homesick for his native land, he and his family set off on an adventurous trip to Czech-settled Spillville, Iowa, for several months. According to the book cover: “The experiences of the composer and his family in the former ‘Wild West’ not only allowed him to find a little Bohemia in America, but also an America of diverse influences to which Bohemian immigrants also had made their contributions.”
Ortwein said the book was inspired by her own experiences in Iowa as well as her new home in Prague.
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