The Ashes of Bohemia

Rose and Augustine Cipera, and Josephine and Benjamin Dedic are forced to enslave themselves to the Lord of the Manor in 1750 Bohemia. After years of struggling on their small plot of poor land to survive, the two families along with thousands of other towns people, rebel against the authoritative Lord of the Manor and their Queen, Maria Theresa, in the town square of Ceske Budajovice. It soon becomes an all out revolt as the towns people fight for basic necessities to survive. Two of Rose and Augustine, and Josephine and Benjamins children get married. Their neighbors are horrified as army men come and kidnap their young son, Joshua, declaring them unfit parents, sending Joshua to work in their woolen factories and spinning mills. Emotionally crushed, Pavel and Karolina are forced to accept the absence of their young son, as Queen Maria Theresa sends twenty-thousand troops to regain control of the town and the people. Reigning from Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna, Austria the fair minded Queen Maria Theresa has her own problems dealing with Catherine the Great of Russia, Fredrick the Great of Prussia, and her daughter Marie Antoinette, Queen of France. As the powerful French people rise up against their own leaders for better living conditions and basic necessities, they become even more and more powerful, creating fear and wars among the reigning Royalties of all the countries in Europe. Bohemia is invaded again and again as Pavel and Joseph discuss in deep thoughts, the problems each men face with being forced in and out of servitude and their own families and children's survival. Joshua returns to Ceske Budajovice as a member of the Queens notorious army. Karolina sees him, and is stricken with emotion and collapses to the ground. Members of European Royalty are at their wits end, trying to stop the powerful French people from invading and claiming all of their lands and holdings and decide to hold a mutli-nation congress, called the Congress of Vienna. With dignitaries and Royalty from every sitting Monarchy and union the delegations debate ways to try to end the fighting and bloodshed. Redesigning boundaries and dividing nations in the process. With uncertainty and mayhem everywhere Frantisek and Anna, and Pavel and Karoline and their neighbors hear about a foreign land, America, that is giving away free farmland to anyone who is willing to farm it. They discuss the painful decision to leave their beloved Bohemia for the unknown and uncertainty of journeying to a new land. But the group finally decides they will be better off to leave, walking for days on end to meet the train that will take them to the ship that will cross the ocean and take them there. Storms ravage the ship and its passengers on the voyage, but the three families, and other passengers make it safely to New York harbor. With the long ocean voyage behind them, trying to find a place to settle becomes an even more daunting task, but the adventurers eventually find a place to build a shelter and finally call home.