Shelly sanders biography

Shelly Sanders (born 17 July 1964) is a Canadian journalist and novelist writing in English.
Shelly Sanders has her feet planted in both Canada and the U.S., having been born in Toronto, Ontario and raised in Rolling Meadows, Illinois.
Shelly Sanders is a Canadian journalist and novelist writing in English.

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When I was eighteen, I discovered that my grandmother had been Jewish, but had given up her faith after escaping a Russian pogrom. I wanted to ask Nana about her experiences, but she'd died five years earlier. I was sad that this information was withheld from me; I'd always envied religious people, and felt as if I'd missed out on something. When I became a mother, years later, the need to learn more about my grandmother flourished. From Nana's sister, I found out that their family left Russia when fires were set in their village. They fled to Shanghai. After high school, Nana worked for a couple of years, and learned English. Then, she went alone by ship to California, worked as a nanny and completed a science degree in 1930 from the University of California, at Berkley. My grandmother gave up her Judaism when she met my grandfather. They settled in Montreal where Jews were not welcome. I wondered if Nana ever regretted her decision, was impressed by the forward-thinking woman she'd been, and had to know more about what life would have been like in pre-re

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Alum and author Shelly Sanders intertwines Latvian family history and fiction in "Daughters of the Occupation"

While Shelly Sanders (external link) , ‘88, was going through old family photos from her grandmother, she found some had ‘Dvinsk’ written on them, now known as Daugavpils in Latvia.

No one in her family talked about Latvia in their family history. Sanders was told by her mother that her grandmother never mentioned Latvia.

This is where Sanders’ idea for "Daughters of the Occupation" (external link) began. After doing more research through a Jewish genealogy site, she discovered that her great-grandparents were actually married in Riga, Latvia, and, in 1905 they were exiled to Siberia for being involved in the workers' revolution.

“I went to Latvia for the first time and met with the curator of the Jewish Museum in Riga. I had sent him family information ahead of time, and he was the one who told me that my great grandparents were exiled for the revolution and filled me in with some other information,” Sanders said.

Sending informa

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Shelly Sanders Bestselling Author of Historical Fiction

Shelly Sanders has her feet planted in both Canada and the U.S., having been born in Toronto, Ontario and raised in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. She and her family returned to Canada the year she started high school, a transition she would not recommend! Upon graduation, she attended the University of Waterloo and received an honors degree in English literature. Then, she went to Ryerson (now Toronto Metropolitan University) for a graduate degree in journalism.

She began her writing career as a freelance journalist for Canadian national publications such as the Toronto Star, National Post, Maclean’s magazine, Canadian Living,Reader’s Digest, and Today’s Parent. When the internet dismantled traditional journalism, she decided to pursue her dream of writing historical fiction. Shelly wrote her first novel while completing a certificate in creative writing at the University of Toronto. Rachel’s Secret, Second Story Press, is inspired by her grandmother’s furtive R