The Velvet Curtain by Trudy Harvey Tait

Step back into the eighties when Communism still held deadly sway in Easter Europe and imagine yourself with Esther, a Romanian teenager, coming to America, the land of freedom, for the first time and discovering that there is much more awaiting her than a mere change of cultures.

Her beauty and individuality attract the attention of handsome Ron Atwood and her talent as a singer soon opens up a whole new world. She rejoices in her new-found liberty and popularity but the "curtain" that her elderly friend, Hugh Gardner, warns her about on the plane is fast closing in. Will it completely smother her, or will she be able to escape its folds?

The author says of the book:

For at least twenty-five years, I have intended to write a novel entitled "The Velvet Curtain." Growing up during the Cold War, I heard frequent testimonies of those who had suffered for their faith in Communist lands. I came to realize, however, that true Christians find it tough going to maintain a clear testimony for Christ wherever they might be, and that the West has its subtle counterpart of the Iron Curtain. I wished to write something that would help young people and older ones too, become aware of the dangers of this Velvet Curtain. Now at last, when I have found it possible to fulfill my dream, Communism no longer dominates Eastern Europe as it did when I was first inspired to write this story. But though the Iron Curtain may have indeed fallen, its Western counterpart still makes itself felt in every land where freedom professes to hold sway.

I do hope that The Velvet Curtain will not only prove to be a captivating and moving story, but that it will inspire all who read it to a closer walk with the Lord Jesus.

What readers have written about this first book in the series:

The whole range of my emotional being has been touched by your story….I recognized the influence the velvet curtain has had in my own life.

I just want you to know the blessing your book, The Velvet Curtain, was to me.  May we all be aware of the pressures and ways our American culture tries to conform us to its image rather than the image of Christ.  Thank you for writing this book.

It (The Velvet Curtain) is just so wonderfully written and so very true.  It says many things I’ve felt but could never put words to.