The Adventures of Vaclav the Magnificent and his lovely assistant Lena

This is the story of two people who seem destined for each other. Vaclav and Lena meet as children in an English language class in Brooklyn. Vaclav dreams of becoming a world class magician.Lena finds comfort in the safety of his adoration. Vaclav imagines their story unfolding like a fairy tale . . . but happily ever after is never a foregone conclusion. When Lena is not around Vaclav and his parents, her world is unsafe. Her poor language skills isolate her. She lives with a mostly absent, neglectful aunt, and has no connection to her parents, who she believes are still in Russia. Then, one day, Lena does not show up for school. She has disappeared from Vaclav and his family's lives as if by a cruel trick. For the next seven years Vaclav always says goodnight to her, wondering if she is doing the same somewhere. On the eve of Lena's seventeenth birthday he finds out. Haley Tanner has the originality and verve of a born storyteller, and the boldness to imagine a world in which love can overcome the most difficult circumstances. In Vaclav & Lena she has created two unforgettable young characters who evoke the joy, the confusion, and the passion of having a profound, everlasting connection with someone else.

About Haley Tanner