Erin Litteken - The Lost Daughters of Ukraine

Erin Litteken - The Lost Daughters of Ukraine  

5⭐

Genre:  Historical Fiction, Fiction, War, WW2

Pages: 422

Format: Digital (Kindle) Netgalley 

Publisher: Boldwood Books  

Date Published: 24th April 2023

 

Book Blurb: 

A story of the strength of the human spirit, the personal cost of conflict and how love can be found even in the darkest times.

Summer 1941. War rages in Europe. The Germans march towards Ukraine. Halya, Liliya and Vika are no strangers to sorrow. They lost family during the Holodomor, loved ones in Stalin's purges, and war looms once more on the horizon.

Vika lives in fear for her children. She and her sister survived the terror famine by leaving their whole family behind. Now, years later, many believe the Germans will free them from the Soviets, but she’s not so sure. Should they stay in Volhynia or flee the approaching Eastern front?

Liliya has lost too much in her 17 years. As those around her join the resistance, Liliya wonders how she can fight for her friends, family, and country. When the choice is made for her, can she find the will to survive and protect those still with her?

Twelve-year-old Halya is struggling to discover who she is. But as the war escalates, can her mother Katya’s tactics keep her safe from the Nazi soldiers rounding up slave laborers? How can a child survive the horrors of war on her own?

These daughters of Ukraine will face devastation and loss as they fight to survive and protect the ones they love.

My Review: 

I loved The Memory Keeper of Kyiv when I read it last year, so when I saw that Litteken is releasing a new book, I just knew I had to read it. Honestly, The Lost Daughters of Ukraine is one of the most heart-wrenching yet very moving, powerful and beautifully written book.

The story follows the lives of three women, Vika, Lilya and Halya. All three of them are trying to do their best to survive WW2 and their lives are all intertwined during the most tragic moments of the war. All three women and their stories were filled with love, resilience, compassion, and strength, even though their everyday life during the war was filled with hunger, death, loss, cruelty and terror from both the Soviets and Nazis.

The writing of this book was just superb, especially the way each chapter portrayed a different POV and made the story so rich and full. At times, it is very hard to read as Litteken doesn’t shy away from displaying these three women's hardships and tragic realities. Although heart-wrenching to read, this book has quite a few beautiful moments when the generosity of people and selflessness are shown too. The author also shows how important those little acts of resistance are and people from different countries and backgrounds support each other in the face of evil.  Every character in this book was so well written that I felt like I wasn’t reading a fiction book but a true-life account.

Overall: Brilliant book! Amazing writing! Such an eye-opener and very emotional. It displays the atrocities of Nazis and Soviets during WW2 yet shows how strong Ukrainians were and always will be. Can’t wait to see what Litteken writes next, but I am sure it will be as brilliant as her last two books.

This review was first published on NetGalley: 

https://www.netgalley.co.uk/book/284738/review/959200

About the Author:

Erin Litteken is a debut novelist with a degree in history and a passion for research. At a young age, she was enthralled by stories of her family’s harrowing experiences in Ukraine before, during and after World War II. She lives in Illinois, USA with her husband and children.

http://www.erinlitteken.com/

Paula Greenlees - The Forgotten Promise

Paula Greenlees - The Forgotten Promise 

4.5⭐

Genre: Historical Fiction, Fiction, WW2 

Pages: 400

Format: e-book

Publisher:  Penguin Books

Date Published: 1st September 2022 (e-book), 29th December 2022 (Paperback) 

 

Big thanks to the author Paula Greenlees and Penguin Books for sending me an e-book copy of this book to read and review. 

Book Blurb: 

Malaya, 1920: Two girls make a promise in the shadows of the jungle. A promise that life won't let them easily keep.

Malaya, 1941: Ella is running her late father's tin mine in the Kledang hills, while Noor works as her cook.
When the war that felt so far away suddenly arrives on their doorstep, Ella is torn apart from her family. Her daughter Grace is left in Noor's care as Japanese soldiers seize the mine.

Ella is forced to make an impossible choice that takes her to England, thousands of miles from home. She is desperate to be reunited with her loved ones. But will the life she returns to be anything like the life she left behind?

My Review: 

Paula Greenlees did it again! Such a beautifully written book about a war-torn family. I loved this book even more than I loved Journey to Paradise! Greenlees writes in such a vivid and beautiful way that not only shows the beauty of the book setting but also makes the reader easily fall in love with the characters and their personalities. Each of the characters is so perfectly crafted and developed. Honestly, I was so sad when I finished this book and it took me a few days to pick another one. Also, it’s not only the characters but also the horrible reality of war and the captivating storyline with strong female leads that makes this book stand out for me.

The story follows Ella and her family in Malaya. We first see her as a little girl in the 1920s, when she makes a friendship pact with her then-best friend Noor to always look out for each other. Fast forward to 1940 and Ella is married with two children, as well as has inherited a large property and a mine. Her life is very comfortable, she has kids that she adores and a husband that loves her very much. Noor’s life, however, has not changed much, she is a cook at Ella’s house and looks after Ella’s children. They aren’t best friends anymore and basically, they are worlds apart.  

However, soon Ella’s life is turned upside down. WW2 breaks out in Asia when the Japanese bombs Pearl Harbour and subsequently take control of Malaya and Singapore. Ella managed to escape Malaya with her newborn son but has to reluctantly leave her husband and daughter behind. Ella comes back to the UK, to Oxfordshire, where her husband’s parents take her in. All connections with a home in Malaya are lost and Ella doesn’t know what happened to her husband and daughter. Thus, she tries to build a life in England, whilst holding onto hope that both of her loved ones are alive. In Malaya, however, the Japanese move into Ella’s house and take over control. Ella’s husband disappeared and Noor does everything she can to protect Ella’s daughter from the Japanese. Both women are fighting their own battles at opposite ends of the world, only remembering a promise they had made to each other years ago.

I loved Noor. She is so strong and brave. She takes in Ella’s daughter and looks after her like she is her own. She also stands up for herself after the war, even though she is tired and drained and lost everything. Noor fights for what is right and she fights for both her and Ella’s daughter. She grew so much in this book. I liked Ella’s character too, but I felt that at times she could have coped better, but I guess it is because of her upbringing. She was used to a very privileged life before the war and it was quite hard for her to adjust. Even at the end of the book, I didn’t feel like Ella grew as much as Noor.

For me, the only thing that was missing between these two main characters, was them having a conversation and talking about everything, especially their friendship at the end of the book. It felt like their friendship and promise were supposed to be one of the main messages of this book but at the very end, I didn’t feel like their friendship was discussed or displayed enough.

I liked the storyline and all the very human emotions that each of the characters has gone through in this book. I also enjoyed that this book touched upon very important subjects, such as belonging, especially in the case of Ella feeling like she doesn’t belong in England. Also, themes of loss and grief, being in the unknown and at the same time trying to build your life back together. All of these were included in the book so well.

Overall: I loved this book. Paula Greenlees's writing is brilliant. She makes her characters so strong and likeable, as well as her storylines, hook you in straight away. If you love historical fiction and historical fiction that is set in WW2 with strong female leads, this book is a perfect choice. Can’t wait to see what Paula writes next! 

About the Author:

Paula Greenlees has lived in various places, including Singapore, where she was based for three years. It was while living in Singapore that the first seeds of her debut novel, Journey to Paradise developed. The crumbling buildings and the modern high-rises popping up almost overnight seemed to be a metaphor for the social diversity and change in Singapore at that time. However, as a young mother living there, she wondered what it must have been like as a post-war colonial wife living miles away from the familiarity of home. Despite the gloss and glamour of colonial living, women were frequently stuck in unhappy marriages, often unable to follow careers or have the independence to divorce if things went wrong – which they inevitably did.

Her writing, although set against exotic backgrounds, is set on the cusp of change – the shift from colonial dominance to independence. She likes to dig into a variety of issues, and her main protagonist is, in many ways, a metaphor for the events surrounding her at that time. It isn’t always an easy journey, but in the end, success comes her way.

https://www.paulagreenlees.com/

Rebecca Donner - All The Frequent Troubles of Our Days

Rebecca Donner - All The Frequent Troubles of Our Days: The True Story of the American Woman at the Heart of the German Resistance to Hitler. 

5⭐

Genre: History, Non-Fiction, Biography, WW2, Memoir

Pages: 562

Format: Paperback

Publisher:  Canongate 

Date Published: 4th August 2022

 

Big thanks to Canongate for sending me a copy of this book to read and review. 

Book Blurb: 

Born and raised in Milwaukee, Mildred Harnack was twenty-six when she enrolled in a Ph.D. program in Germany and witnessed the meteoric rise of the Nazi party. In 1932, she began holding secret meetings in her apartment — a small band of political activists that by 1940 had grown into the largest underground resistance group in Berlin. She recruited working-class Germans into the resistance, helped Jews escape, plotted acts of sabotage, and collaborated in writing leaflets that denounced Hitler and called for revolution. Her co-conspirators circulated through Berlin under the cover of night, slipping the leaflets into mailboxes, public restrooms, and phone booths.

When the first shots of the Second World War were fired, she became a spy, couriering top-secret intelligence to the Allies. On the eve of her escape to Sweden, she was ambushed by the Gestapo. At a Nazi military court, a panel of five judges sentenced her to six years at a prison camp, but Hitler overruled the decision and ordered her execution. On February 16, 1943, she was strapped to a guillotine and beheaded.

Historians identify Mildred Harnack as the only American in the leadership of the German resistance, yet her remarkable story has remained almost unknown until now.

Harnack’s great-great-niece Rebecca Donner draws on her extensive archival research in Germany, Russia, England, and the U.S. as well as newly uncovered documents in her family archive to produce this astonishing work of narrative nonfiction. Fusing elements of biography, real-life political thriller, and scholarly detective story, Donner brilliantly interweaves letters, diary entries, notes smuggled out of a Berlin prison, survivors’ testimony, and a trove of declassified intelligence documents into a powerful, epic story, reconstructing the moral courage of an enigmatic woman nearly erased by history.

My Review: 

This book was amazing! So beautifully written and researched but so heart-wrenching and moving at the same time. It was one of the books that are just so hard to put down as it is written more like a novel rather than a biography. I also didn’t know much about Mildred Harnack but I am so glad I had a chance to read this book and her story. It was such an eye-opener for me. Such a great piece of non-fiction and going straight to the top of my non-fiction books read in 2022.

This story is about Mildred Harnack, an American woman who was at the heart of the German resistance movement against the Nazi regime during Hitler's rise to power and WW2. During this book, we follow Mildred’s life, which was brilliantly reconstructed from letters, people’s diaries, Mildred’s journals, and other historical documents. Readers follow Mildred’s story from her childhood in Milwaukee to her meeting her future husband Arvid, who is German. Then she moves to Germany with Arvid and starts her Ph.D. studies, alongside lecturing at the University of Berlin. However, as Hitler is slowly but surely rising to power through the 1930s, Mildred and Arvid find themselves losing their jobs, their freedom, and their old life. Thus, not seeing any other way, they both become very active figures in the German resistance against the Nazis. Mildred deeply intertwined in the resistance was leading double life, one being a good wife to a German and the second using leaflets, recruits, and the power of the written word to send a message to people about the true colors of the Nazi regime.

The whole book was so emotional but at the same time very interesting and eye-opening. Mildred although American fought for what she thought was right. Her efforts to help Jews, smuggle resistance leaflets, write articles against Nazis and Hitler, as well as, recruit people into the resistance were extraordinary but also very sad since it all did get her caught and executed. She didn’t use weapons and fear but she used words and truth to spread the message about the horrors of Hitler's Germany.

This book is a fascinating read and has it all, the horrors, the fights, the successes, and the losses of living in Germany in the 1930s and 1940s. I strongly believe the beautiful writing just added a whole new atmosphere and made me as a reader feel like I am there and seeing events from the point of view of those different characters.

Overall: This book is definitely one of the best non-fiction books about WW2 I read. I am so glad I had a chance to read it and learn about such a brave, courageous, intelligent, and ambitious woman like Mildred Harnack. I believe that more people need to hear her story and thus will I recommend this book wholeheartedly if you are interested in WW2 and German resistance during the 1930s and 1940s. 

About the Author:

Rebecca Donner is the author of the instant New York Times bestseller All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days, published by Little, Brown. All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days won the 2022 National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography, the 2022 PEN /Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award, the 2022 Chautauqua Prize, and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award, and the Plutarch Award. All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days was also selected as a New York Times Critics’ Top Book of 2021, a New York Times Notable Book, and a New York Times Editors’ Choice, and was named one of the Best Books of 2021 by the Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, Publisher’s Weekly, and The Economist.

Rebecca Donner was recently awarded a 2022 Guggenheim fellowship. She was a 2018-19 fellow at the Leon Levy Center for Biography at the City University of New York, is a two-time Yaddo fellow, and has twice been awarded fellowships by the Ucross Foundation. She has also held residencies at Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and Vermont Studio Center. Donner is a member of the National Book Critics Circle and has taught at Wesleyan University, Columbia University, and Barnard College.

Born in Canada, Donner was educated at the University of California at Berkeley and Columbia University. She is the author of Sunset Terrace, a critically acclaimed novel, and Burnout, a graphic novel about eco-terrorism. Her essays, reportage, and reviews have appeared in numerous publications, including the New York Times and Bookforum.

https://www.rebeccadonner.com/rebecca-donner-bio

George Tomaziu - Spy Artist Prisoner

George Tomaziu - Spy Artist Prisoner (My Life in Romania Under Fascist and Communist Rule) 

5⭐

Genre: Memoir, Non-Fiction,  History, Biography  

Pages:  228

Format: Paperback 

Translated by: Jane Reid 

Original Language: French 

Publisher: Envelope Books 

Date Published: 3rd March 2022

Huge thank you to Envelope Books for the copy of this book to read and review. 

Book Blurb: 

The Romanian artist George Tomaziu expected to be imprisoned for monitoring German troop movements during the Second World War. He also expected that, after the war and his release, he might be honoured for fighting Fascism. Instead, the new Communist government sent him back to prison and stranded him there, for 13 years. This is his memoir.

My Review: 

My first book from Envelope Books and honestly it was one of the most interesting and eye-opening books I have read in a while! Not only the book cover design was so beautiful and fitting for this story, but also the memoir itself is so emotional, poignant and so raw.

I know quite a lot about the history of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in the Baltic countries but I didn’t know much about how Romania was involved in WW2 and how the country's political developments evolved after WW2. This book taught me so much and gave me great insight into the history and political changes before, through and after WW2 in Romania.

The book is a memoir written by George Tomaziu, a Romanian artist and it is his account of living under Fascist, Socialist and then Communist regimes. With his artistic nature, he loses all hope that his country will ever be free from Fascism during WW2, which prompts him to become a spy for the British Intelligence Services, sharing information about German movements across Romania. Years later just before the war finishes, he gets arrested for spying and sent to prison. However, his first time in prison under the Fascist regime is short-lived and he is released. Then political powers in Romania are suddenly changed and Tomaziu is arrested again but now under a Communist regime and sent for thirteen years to the hard labour Romanian gulag. The book follows his life through all these changes in political power, his life of being an artist and a spy and recounts his horrific time in the Romanian gulag.  

For me, the bit about his life in the gulag was just heart-wrenching and horrid. Tomaziu talks about physical and mental torture, hunger, malnutrition, and being treated like an animal and not a human being. He saw so many of his friends and cell mates die from the terrible conditions, torture and illnesses in the gulag. He also talked about how he managed to keep his humanity and faith alive in such horrible conditions. All of this is not a light read and some parts are very disturbing and dark but it is also an eye-opener into what happened inside the Iron Curtain countries. It is a very important read and account of real life and real atrocities that happened not too long ago.

I was amazed by Tomaziu’s bravery and strength in times of torture, constant humiliation and hunger. He fought hard as he wanted to one day see his country free from Communism and the atrocities that came with it.

Overall:  Such an important book that everyone should read, especially to learn what happened behind the Iron Curtain and in Eastern Europe not too long ago. Especially this book is important in the light of current events that are happening in Eastern Europe and shows us whether we can learn from our history and people who lived through all the hard parts of it as George Tomaziu did. It is important to not forget the history and this book is a real and honest account that reminds us of the horrors of Fascism and Communism. Definitely, a book that I will not forget for a long time and I am so glad I had a chance to read it!

 

About the Author:

George (Gheorghe) Tomaziu was a Romanian painter, illustrator, memoirist and poet. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Bucharest. Spy Artist Prisoner is his memoir about living under the rule of Fascism and Communism in Romania before, during and after WW2. 

https://the-history-avenue.eu/2022/05/14/spy-artist-against-the-system-george-tomazius-life-in-communist-romania/

Erin Litteken - The Memory Keeper of Kyiv

 

Erin Litteken - The Memory Keeper of Kyiv 

5 ⭐

Genre:  Historical Fiction, Culture, Fiction. 

Pages: 373

Format: eARC on NetGalley 

Publisher: Boldwood Books

Date Published: 16th May 2022

Can't thank enough Boldwood Books and NetGalley UK for a copy of eARC to read and review!

Book Blurb: 

In the 1930s, Stalin’s activists marched through the Soviet Union, espousing the greatness of collective farming. It was the first step in creating a man-made famine that, in Ukraine, stole almost 4 million lives. Inspired by the history the world forgot, and the Russian government denies it, Erin Litteken reimagines their story.

In 1929, Katya is 16 years old, surrounded by family and in love with the boy next door. When Stalin’s activists arrive in her village, it’s just a few, a little pressure to join the collective. But soon neighbours disappear, those who speak out are never seen again and every new day is uncertain.

Resistance has a price, and as desperate hunger grips the countryside, survival seems more a dream than a possibility. But, even in the darkest times, love beckons.

Seventy years later, a young widow discovers her grandmother’s journal, one that will reveal the long-buried secrets of her family’s haunted past.

This is a story of the resilience of the human spirit, the love that sees us through our darkest hours and the true horror of what happened during the Holodomor.

My Review: 

What a powerful book! I love historical fiction and I loved reading this beautiful book, although it made me cry like no other book ever did. The book is even more impactful and important in the light of current events in Ukraine and Russia’s brutality towards Ukrainian citizens.

The book follows two timelines, one set in the 1930s and one in 2004. In the 1930s story follows Katya, a young Ukrainian girl living in the Ukrainian countryside, who is so full of life, dreams, and love, and is surrounded by her loving family, her sister Alina and her parents. She is also in love with a neighbour’s boy who she wants to one day marry and have a big family with. All her dreams are shattered when in the early 1930s Stalin decides to collectivise all the rural farms across the countryside where Katya and her family reside. People who were opposed to this faced deportation to Gulags in Siberia, prison or death. Farmers and families that were left in the countryside faced starvation, as brutal grain and food quotas and taxes are introduced. Whilst most of the food were rotting away in train station wagons thousands of people were starving and dying, including Katya and her family. She is not only forced to eat whatever she found in the forests, including mice, worms, and rats but she also losses some of her loved ones. The 2004 timeline follows Cassie who after losing her husband, moves to her grandmother’s house to look after her. Her grandmother and grandmother’s journal are the ones who tell her about Holodomor, an unimaginable tragedy and man-made famine that happened in the 1930s in Ukraine.

Katya’s storyline was heart-wrenching at times, especially her losing family members and seeing how her loved home and countryside turn into crumbles with people being killed, deported or starved to death. Reading these chapters made me cry so much, especially since similar things are happening right now in Ukraine. I admired Katya’s strength and ability to fight for what is right. She never lost her spirit no matter how much she lost.

I really loved that this book explored Ukraine’s traditions in the 2004 timeline. Even though they all lived in the USA, the family still had very strong ties to the Ukrainian language, culture and traditions. Also, I always love to read about nalysnyky, varenyky and borscht as it takes me straight back to my childhood.

I didn’t know much about Holodomor before this book, although I do know a lot about deportations that happened to Gulags in Siberia before and during WW2 from family accounts. So for me, I had a big learning experience whilst reading this book too.  I am glad I learned about Holodomor and it definitely sparked my interest to read more, to know what happened and how many people were actually affected. This book is an amazing way of increasing awareness of this in the Western world, where people might not realise what truly happened across Eastern Europe in the 1930s and 1940s.

Overall: This story is a must-read, especially with what is happening now. Also, it is an important read for learning about Holodomor, especially if you like me didn’t know much about it before. It is so beautifully written it didn’t feel like its author's debut book at all.

Can’t recommend this book enough! 

This review was first published on NetGalley and can be found on:

https://www.netgalley.co.uk/book/252312/review/959200

About the Author: 

Erin Litteken is a debut novelist with a degree in history and a passion for research. At a young age, she was enthralled by stories of her family’s harrowing experiences in Ukraine before, during and after World War II. She lives in Illinois, USA with her husband and children.

http://www.erinlitteken.com/