Between Shades of Grey

This year, I decided to pursue a different reading challenge. I wanted to read five historical fiction books that were not set against the backdrop of WWII. This is because the historical fiction genre seems to be flooded with books where the Nazis are the antagonists. It isn't difficult to understand why. We have learned or should have learned, that the Nazis were evil people who wanted to stifle freedom in the form of book burnings, establish a military boot camp for young boys in the form of the Hitler Youth, and, most importantly, try to systematically murder generations of Jews, and other ‘undesirable' people off the face of the planet. For an author, this makes them easy antagonists, and anyone who fights against them almost automatically makes them a hero. Yet, that also makes for what can feel like an over-saturated topic. Therefore, I wanted to change the pace and highlight some books that do not have to do with WWII but are still very well written. This novel, I feel, just makes that cut.

We begin with our main character, Lina, a fifteen-year-old girl living in 1941 Lithuania. She lives a comfortable life with her mother, father, and younger brother, with dreams of being an artist. One day, these dreams are shattered, with a group of Soviet soldiers burst through the front door and demanding that they leave the home, saying they have only minutes to pack up a few belongings. What follows is a harrowing journey, as they are forced to move by train to Siberia, populated by nothing more than shacks to combat the cold of the Arctic Circle.

This book explores the development of Stalin's political purges that took place in the 1930s and 40s. Here in the West, Stalin is mostly known for being an ally in WWII, and so the layperson may assume he was one of the good guys, but nothing could be further from the truth. More often than not, he could give Hitler a run for his money. Not only did he exile to Siberia anyone who he deemed a political threat, but he would often starve his own people just because he could. One example of this would be the farmers of Ukraine. They were forced to farm their wheat crops, then Soviet soldiers would come and take the grain away from them, leaving many to starve to death.

Therefore, this book is an excellent example of a young woman who must survive in a context we have not seen before. This helps the reader to understand that just because we were collaborating with the Soviets against Hitler, does not mean that things were rosy and pretty among the allies. This is a good thing for a teenage reader to understand.

There is also a good amount of tension in this story because of who the antagonist is. In books about the Holocaust, and the extermination of Jewish people, there is always the thought in the back of the reader's mind that the person just has to hold out until the allies come, then their suffering can be over. There is none of that here because no one is coming to save Lina and her family. No allied tanks will come rolling in, waving their flag to save the day, there is just work, work, and more work, as they do their best to survive the wrath of the Soviet commander and the ever-present arctic conditions.

I also liked the romance in this story. I know it sounds odd to have two teenagers falling in love in the midst of almost starving to death, but Sepetys manages to make it more subtle than it sounds. In fact, the romance mostly works in the background, which I appreciated. I also like the love interest. Both he and Lina have their faults, and they work to improve on them...well, again, as much as they can while not freezing to death. Nevertheless, this was a good aspect of the book that I feel other authors may not have handled as well as Sepetys.

Yet, part of the problem with this book may be that there are many elements in it that we have seen before. As much as there may be tension in this novel, there is also a feeling of similarity between this book and the Holocaust books mentioned above. However accidental, much of this book hit the same story beats you'd expect, creating a feeling of deja vu. This makes for a book that some may find enjoyable, but others may find predictable or boring, especially if they have read books like Night by Ellie Wezel.

Still, I felt that this book held my attention well, despite the similar content to other books I've read. If nothing else, you should read as a jumping-off point to learn more about Stalin, and how he ruled over the Soviet Union with an iron fist. I give this book a four out of five.