The Circle

J.H. Sifontes was born to a poor family of five children and raised under the brutal oppression of a communist country. Working hard from a young age, the author was taught inside the political doctrinarian system, and was also aware of the realities outside the system. The author, from an early age, became interested in subjects that were forbidden, taught as ridiculous, or explained as total nonesense; like theology, unexplained mysteries, religions, etc. Soon enough, J. H. Sifontes found out the hard way that to investigate or believe in something out of the Marxist education system was a wrong move. Instead of preaching behind a pulpit in a church, he found himself behind bars in a political prison. Always an eager reader, with plenty of time on his hands, J. H. Sifontes read a lot. He also studied very hard, and passed a test that certified him as a high school teacher. Coming out after a few years in prison, the author tried to get a job as a teacher. Only there was a problem: a political prisoner in a communist country is a "persona non grata" for education. He found himself working in the only place he was allowed to make a living in: doing the hardest manual labors in a state-run farm. At night, when he wasn't sleepy or tired, the author wrote his first novel using the poor illumination of an old kerosene lamp. Some time later, as a political assailant, J. H. Sifontes arrived to freedom in the United States and restarted to write.