Fiction by Ruta Sepetys
What happened in Lithuania during the Second World War? I did not know anything at all about it before reading this book.
I have read a lot of historical fiction about World War Two, and most of it focuses on countries affected by the Germans: France, Austria, Poland, Holland, and the like. Under the direction on Hitler, the Nazi Germans rolled over theses smaller countries, deported their people to concentration camps, and confiscated their lands and goods. Well, the Nazis lost, and therefore the many war atrocities they committed were on full display for all to see. We know all about that.
But guess what? The Russians under Stalin were doing THE SAME THING to countries like Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia. But since the Russians were our allies, and WON the war, nobody really talks about what was going on over there. This books gives a little idea of what happened to some of those people.
The author herself is of Lithuanian descent; however, her ancestors were able to escape into Germany before the Russians conquered her land. She has done extensive research into what happened to those of her family left behind in 1940's Lithuania, and has produced this book.
The copy I read (pictured above)was the movie tie-in version, but the original title was Between Shades of Gray. I thought the cover of that one was pretty:
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