Donna Solecka Urbikas

Donna Urbikas was born in Coventry, England, as Danuta Anna Solecka and immigrated to the USA in 1952 with her parents and older half-sister, Mira. 

She earned degrees in Biology from the University of Illinois and in Environmental Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology, as well as a Certificate in Creative Non-fiction Writing from the University of Chicago. 

Donna Urbikas had careers as a high school biology teacher and environmental engineer and is now a State of Illinois licensed real estate broker. Her book, My Sister’s Mother:  A Memoir of War, Exile, and Stalin’s Siberia (University of Wisconsin Press, 2016, 2019) was an award finalist with the Chicago Writers Association, the Midwest Independent Publishing Association, the Society of Midland Authors, 2021 International Book Awards, and a winner of Foreword INDIE book awards.  

Ms. Urbikas is the mother of three adult children and volunteers with several organizations. She lives in Chicago, Illinois, with one very adorable fat cat.

Book Reviews by Donna Solecka Urbikas

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One wonders what author Jonathan Raban is trying to tell us in his memoir, Father and Son.

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Though a serious reader may feel squeamish about reading a memoir of a daughter stumbling upon her father’s secret stash of “porno” books, Let’s Never Talk About This Again is a sweet acco

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“‘all human cultures share one common trait: they adapt constantly in response to all manner of variables. .  .  . and long-term success .  .  .

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As humbling as it is to write about Eleanor Roosevelt, her own words best represent her to the world.

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“Inhuman Land is a vivid lesson of what that war entailed, conveyed with an artist’s eye, and well worth reading.”

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Beyond the obvious reversal of a typical coming-of-age story found in the popular young adult (YA) genre, Madeleine May Kunin’s Coming of Age: My Journey to the Eighties is a memoir full o