This novel is based on real events. There are enough witnesses and documents that I could write about these events in the style of a memoir. However, I do not want to bear witness to a personal account, which, in essence, is a melodramatic love story.
Moreover, three of the main characters are still alive and I would hurt them by writing about intimate details of their private lives. To protect them, I have changed dates, places and names, and have added elements and fillings from my own fantasies that do not affect the central story. In as much as it is a novel, it has scenes and conversations that did not occur as they appear, and descriptions that go beyond what you would expect from a personal memoir.