“She was the bravest person I ever met. Not the bravest girl, the bravest person.”
Cilka ends up in a concentration camp at the age of 16 and in chosen by the guards to serve them in a room with a bed. She gets to wear her hair long and gets extra food, but she is a prisoner living in a hell that not only isolates her from the outside, but also from the people trapped inside with her. They hate that she is given a special status and so she is alone to deal with her shame. That hate is what gets her sent to the Russian Gulags when she is “freed” because another prisoner says she provided comfort to the enemy. It was not her choice – her choice was to live anyway she could.
I read The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris last year and when I saw that she was releasing a new book on NetGalley, I chose to read it. Cilka’s Journey is the first historical fiction book I’ve read that is set in the Russian Gulags. Morris’ writing style captivates the reader right away in both books.
Cilka has a strong will to live and survives the trip to Siberia. There, they have a small respite before going to work in the mines. When Cilka hurts her foot, she spends some time in the medical clinic and finds there are still some decent people in the camp. Cilka has to find a way to trust people again and deal with the shame of her past, which haunts her every decision.
I learned a lot reading Cilka’s Journey. It is heartbreaking that people suffered through situations like this one. The author based the book on a real person, but also incorporated facts from other people’s lives who were imprisoned by the Russians. I am glad the author pursued telling the stories of these people who survived so we can all know and never forget the darkest parts of history.
Have you read any historical fiction books about the Gulags? Share on the blog!
Buy Cilka’s Journey here (affiliate link).
