Toronto Star Newspapers

By Aileen ZangoueiYorkRegion.com

​Newmarket native Alyssa Hall’s first book, “Trusting Claire,” contains many of her experiences growing up in a family of Russian immigrants. 
Hall, whose maiden name is Pugach, said she'd been wanting to write about her upbringing in a home of fresh immigrants for a very long time, but ultimately wrote it with a twist of a murder mystery to make it more interesting. 
“(‘Trusting Claire’) ended up not being about me, but a great deal of my memories,” Hall said. 
Claire Perova is the main character, whom Hall described as being “too trusting,” which is just one part of her personality that stems from the author. 
Claire has always struggled to find the people and places that make up “home.” 
After a lengthy university adventure in Greece, she returns to Canada, where she eventually meets two men. But just as her romantic life starts getting complicated, Claire becomes embroiled in a strange death, which is where the murder mystery kicks in.
Or was her boyfriend actually murdered? 
Despite her best efforts, she can’t escape the aftermath of the crime. Every new step gives rise to surprise encounters, risky situations, and all-or-nothing alternatives. Soon, Claire learns that people are not always what they seem, and smiling faces conceal scheming motives. 
Hall said the murder mystery is fiction and not based on her life; however, other experiences of Claire's, such as her job at a real estate office on Main Street, are. 
“Actually, when I grew up in Newmarket, I don't recall any murders happening there,” Hall said, adding that she doesn't officially mention in the book that it takes place in that town to avoid “tainting” the city that is very close to her heart.
Writing her first book was very important to Hall since growing up in a family of immigrants was difficult for her. 
Her family were Russian war refugees who were captured by Germans before coming to Canada in 1949, arriving first in Thessalon, near Sault Ste. Marie. Eventually her family would be sponsored by Bill Koshel of Newmarket, who had been running a “one-man” agency to bring refugees to Canada, according to an article in the Newmarket Public Library's digital historical collection. 
“It was really hard growing up as an immigrant ... children were cruel, and I grew up very insecure,” Hall said, adding that having written “Trusting Claire,” she has something that makes her feel good about herself for the first time. 
Pre-pandemic, Hall had only just thought of writing a book, but it was amid the pandemic that she finally decided to take the leap and pick up a pen to write. 
Since then, she said she has found something that many of her family and friends said she is very good at — writing — and is currently working on a romance novel.
Hall moved to British Columbia with her family in 1988, but often visits her friends in Newmarket.

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