Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

Historical fiction may not seem like a fun subject, but I have to say, reading stories such as "Between Shades of Gray" are worth our time and effort. To imagine and get into a character and experience just some of what others truly lived through and managed to survive is an incredible journey.

This story follows three members of the Vilska family; a mother (Elena), her 15-year old daughter (Lina) and her 10-year old son (Jonas) on what begins a 12 year imprisonment in a labor camp in Siberia. The Vilska family, in part, are gathered up one night and wisked away with only the clothes on their back and what they had an opportunity to pack in a single suitcase each in less than 20 minutes. The timeframe is early 1940's and the Soviets are on a mission (just as Hitler is at the same time) to purge itself of people's who they deemed 'criminals'.    During Stalin's reign he was responsible for over 20 million deaths.  The happenings in this fictional account were taken in part from interviews the author had with actual survivors.

The Vilkas, an educated and beautiful Lithuanian family, were crammed into cattle trains and hauled across Russia over a manner of 12-14 months until they reached their final destination. The father, Kostas, had been separated from him family and likely died in a slave camp, the rest of the family went to labor camps.  Along the way, many died, families were separated, they were forced to work and live in deplorable conditions with no medical care, little to no food, housing which was barely above living in a cardboard box at times.

Despite horrific happenings, we read a story that is sad, scary, moving although the writer kept much of the graphic horrors off her pages. You will be left realizing that irregardless of what is going on the human spirit can still survive and smile and find hope. If you are even remotely interested in the history during this timeframe, you will want to pick up this book.

http://www.rutasepetys.com/ for more information about the author and this book.  There is a 11 minute video on the author's website that you may want to view.