Gallagher based her book, Candles for the Defiant, on the actual experiences, documents and period photos of her mother’s family while escaping from Estonia merely one day before the start of the 50-year Soviet occupation in 1944. She also studied documents from the Estonian National Archives, which revealed an interesting, little-known twist to the story. Imagine an idealistic Estonian patriot gaining membership to the Communist Party in order to subvert and sabotage the activities of the Soviet occupiers, only to eventually run into potentially insurmountable difficulties.
Candles for the Defiant has received numerous praising reviews since the book reveal on March 12th. Copies of the 279-page book published by Atterberry Press can be ordered in paperback and E-book formats through Amazon.com, Bookshop.org and Rakuten Kobo. An audiobook version is about to be released.
