Historical
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1940. World War II is raging in Europe. While the world is focused on Germany, the long arm of Stalin has found its way to eastern Poland.
In midwinter a young girl, Zofia, and her family are forced out of their home and deported to a destination thousands of miles away in the Siberian Gulag, where the value of human life has no meaning. Zofia’s life changes forever as she makes an epic journey across continents; a journey in which she becomes a woman, but never forgets her lost idyllic life - the golden days in the golden fields back home.
Based on the almost unknown, true story of deportation, ethnic cleansing and genocide, it is a story of despair and hope, heart-breaking loss and resilience, testing the limits and strength of the human spirit.
Ever greater challenges and the dilemma of her life loom ahead. Will any of the 1.69 million deportees escape and return to their beloved homeland against such unimaginable oppressors?
What in Life Were Wings is a gripping story that will stay with the reader long after the final page has fallen.
Here's what readers have to say about this book....
A truly gifted writer. The author has the ability to capture & hold a person’s imagination, while at the same time telling a true factual story. Hopefully we will see a sequel.
Well, what can I say? This exceptional first book has had me on an emotional treadmill for the past few days. I had very little idea of this part of history, so my eyes have been widely opened. Whilst it is an utterly heart-rending testimony, transporting us from an idyllic childhood in pre-war Poland, to being thrown into the turmoil and cruelty that is war, the author has given real substance to her mother’s extraordinary journey through her teenage years and beyond. I can’t believe how this book has touched me, in fact I find it quite extraordinary, and it has had me in floods of tears, even as I write this. I simply didn’t want to put it down or for it to end as its descriptive and artistic qualities are outstanding. Thank you.
Everything about this novel is immediate. Riveting. Page-turning. Based on true facts. The author paints vivid pictures of events as they unfold.
I am usually a slow reader, but this book was enthralling and I finished it in the record time of three days, as I just could not put it down. I learnt so much pre-war and World War II history. I had little knowledge of the atrocities inflicted on the Polish people apart from the bombing of Warsaw. The author’s research was obviously extensive and time consuming. It certainly made shocking and thought-provoking reading. I found myself emotional and wishing I had known all this years ago. This book was a testimony to a beautiful family who had given Zofia the strength of character to endure whatever life threw at her. A great read.
The book is so vivid and readable. A really fascinating story and one about which few people in the UK probably know anything. An inspiring story of human strength.
