My Aunt Manya is a period novel set in Russia at the end of the 19th century. The heroine, ten-year-old Sarah, lives unhappily with her much-hated stepmother. Sarah's father has gone to live in New York with his sister Manya while he looks for a job. Sarah's life changes overnight when Aunt Manya writes with news that her father has been killed in an accident. She sends her a boat ticket, some money and an offer of a home. Sarah's family and friends are poor, Yiddish-speaking Russian Jews. Their lives are in constant danger from Cossacks - cruel Russian soldiers who, without warning, kill innocent Jews in attacks called Pogroms. When Sarah's friends get word that a group of Cossacks is camped nearby, they lose no time in helping her to set out alone on the longest journey of her young life. My Aunt Manya is a heart-warming story of Sarah's journey to America on the 'other side of the world.' She becomes an immigrant with just one goal - to live with her Aunt Manya in a free country. Sarah faces difficulties and dangers of the unknown with great courage and determination which, together with the hand of fate, combine to make this an unforgettable story.