A harrowing page-turner, made all the more so for its basis in historical fact, the novel illuminates the persecution suffered by Stalin's victims (20 million were killed), while presenting memorable characters who retain their will to survive even after more than a decade in exile.
...the gangsters are mostly flat and their interactions with Josie one-dimensional. Similarly, Willie and her nieces teeter perilously close to the cliché of the hooker with a heart of gold.
January 1945: as Russians advance through East Prussia, four teens’ lives converge in hopes of escape...Heartbreaking, historical, and a little bit hopeful.