Two brothers grow up on the Jewish streets of Warsaw. At the turn of the twentieth century, Adolphe leaves to seek work and start a family in Switzerland. Marcus moves east, inspired by his Communist beliefs. In Moscow, he is arrested and exiled. They would never see each other again.

A hundred years later, Marcus’ great-granddaughter, Nadia Ragozhina, rediscovers the missing part of her broken family. Could she piece together the stories hidden for generations?

Love and separation, hope and paranoia – the lives of the patriarchs, their daughters and granddaughters are set against the Russian Revolution, Stalin’s repressions, the persecution of Jews across Europe and the Second World War. Worlds Apart is a rare portrayal of the tumultuous events of twentieth century Europe, seen through the eyes of six women who fought for the survival and happiness of their families.

Nadia Ragozhina was born in Moscow and moved to the UK in 2000. She is a senior journalist at BBC World News and has also worked for BBC World Service Radio and France 24 in Paris. Nadia writes and blogs about sustainability and zero waste living, which, other than books and her family, is her passion in life. She lives in London with her husband and two daughters. Worlds Apart is her first book.

An excerpt from Nadia Ragozhina’s book Worlds Apart: The Journeys of My Jewish Family in Twentieth-Century Europe features in the December 20th 2021 issue of The Moscow Times. You can read the full piece here.

"A rich and marvellous book. 'Worlds Apart' encompasses the major dramas of twentieth-century Europe in a moving, well-researched memoir about a separated family." – Sofka Zinovieff, author

"My secret Jewish family is reunited" – read more about Nadia's research and her family in The Jewish Chronicle here.

"Book tells of a divided Jewish family’s journeys through the 20th century" – read this article from Hampstead Highgate Express.

Read coverage from Haaretz here. You can also find an article about it on CamdenNewJournal.

"Worlds Apart is an emotive and stark account of family, war and the legacy of separation. Nadia's detailed storytelling shines a new light on the lives of the many who would have been forgotten were it not for their testimony so richly revealed in this historically important book." – Babita Sharma, BBC Television presenter and author

You can pick a copy of Worlds Apart from Owl Bookshop in Kentish town.