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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
This gem sat on my book table for weeks before I finally cracked it open. It recounts a slice of history previously unknown to me--the Soviets, after they had devoured eastern Poland in the devil's pact with Hitler in 1939, decided to deport Jews to Siberia as slave labor. Young Esther tells the story, which is both survival and coming-of-age tale. Exile to the brutal wilderness of the steppe becomes salvation from an even more unthinkable fate had they been left behind (at one point, Esther describes her mother's anguish that on the day they were taken from their home: her brother shows up, the soldiers ask if he's one of them; wishing to spare him from her own fate, his mother denies he's part of the family; later, as news of the holocaust emerges, carries it as her life's largest regret).
What I loved about this story was that despite her terrible ordeal, the physical hardship unimaginable to me (no winter coat or boots, knitting with frozen hands on a sweater made of worn out material, for a rich woman who has outgrown it by the time it's finished), Esther remains a young girl trying to find her place among her friends at school. To do so, she must move away from her culture toward the generic Soviet-Siberian one.
Reads like what I'd imagine to find if Dostoyevsky had written a YA novel.
What I loved about this story was that despite her terrible ordeal, the physical hardship unimaginable to me (no winter coat or boots, knitting with frozen hands on a sweater made of worn out material, for a rich woman who has outgrown it by the time it's finished), Esther remains a young girl trying to find her place among her friends at school. To do so, she must move away from her culture toward the generic Soviet-Siberian one.
Reads like what I'd imagine to find if Dostoyevsky had written a YA novel.
I loved the book. It was perfect. I loved how she used words I have never heard of before to describe things. It moved quite fast but was still perfect.
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was a sweet book about a time in history I wasn’t aware of. A Jewish family escaped death in concentration camps by being deported to Siberia for being capitalists. While their lives were full of hardship and and they were hanging onto life and hope by mere threads, they never lost hope or the will to survive. I appreciated the thankfulness that they exhibited for their lives and being kept together as a family, even though they lost so much. Esther was an incredibly relatable character, and made me smile remembering what it was like to be a teenage girl. While my life looked vastly different than hers, there are strings that tie all of us together, through language, culture and religion.
Learning yet again about an aspect of WWII that I had no idea about. This was not what I was expecting.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Reading reviews for Between Shades of Grey reminded me of this book. Read it ages ago, but it looks very similar.
An incredible story. Esther was arrested by the Soviets with her Polish Jewish family during WWII and sent to Siberia. She wrote this book around 20 years after the end of the war, recalling the details of what it was like to grow up under those harsh conditions. It's another little bit of history that was new to me.
A different side of WWII horrors--Esther's family is shipped to Siberia. They manage to make a life, but nothing is as it was. And when the war ends and they can go back to Poland, Esther isn't sure she's ready to leave. That exploration is what makes this book so interesting--trying to figure out where home is, especially with the news that their entire extended family is gone.