Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Between Shades of Gray


By Ruta Sepetys. New York: Philomel Books, 2011.

Let me say, this story is not a pretty one. Yet, it is beautifully written. Based on true events and the author's family experience, this book needs to be read. It's 1941, and fifteen year old Lina lives a comfortable life in Lithuania. A talented artist, she is looking forward to going to art school. One night, Soviet guards invade her home, taking Lina, her mother and her younger brother onto a packed train with other deportees, off to a labor camp in Siberia. Her father has been separated from them, and he is being taken to a prison camp, where he is sentenced to death. This story unflinchingly tells the horrors Lithuanians and others endured on the train, and also during their time in Siberia. Lina and her family are then taken further into nothingness towards the North Pole to another labor camp. Lina and her family struggle to survive with nothing more than hope they will be returned to Lithuania and the love they have for each other.

I found this extremely disturbing to read, but it is so well written, that I was compelled to continue the journey with Lina. I didn't remember this part of World War II history, and it was disturbing to read the atrocities the Soviet soldiers inflicted on people during their "cleansing" of the Baltic region. I think the cover image captures the disparity between the "ugliness" of the story (barbed wire surround the border) and the beauty of the writing and ultimate hope towards the end of the story (a lone green plant growing out of the stark cold of the snow). I highly recommend this haunting book. It will stay with you long after you finish reading it.

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