This novel proclaims to be based on a true love story. Cilka whose real name is Cecilia Kovacoca was 16 in 1942 when she entered Auschwitz and was forced to become the commandant’s sex slave. On liberation, still only 19, she was charged as a collaborator by the Russians and sent to the Siberian gulags. In her new prison Cilka faced new and familiar challenges and confronted terror and death daily. She also found love.
“Cilka’s Journey” is based on research woven into a fictionalized story. The author states this is not a biography or an authoritative record of historical events but simply traces her heartbreaking journey through hell. The account particularly centers on the treatment of women in Vorkuta Gulag and the maltreatment and violence the men also had to endure. Brutality, rape and undernourishment were the ways of everyday life. Daily, force labor and the extreme cold awaited them to succumb.
Although this is the second novel in the series, “Cilka’s Journey” can easily work as a standalone. Throughout we have flashbacks skillfully weaved in spanning from 1939-1945 giving us enough background about Cilka’s past and also filling the gaps for those who have not read book #1.
Since I read very few books about the Russian Gulags I much appreciated the notes from Heather Morris and additional history on Vorkuta in the afterword by Owen Matthews. These chapters at the end of the book clarify what is factual to what was enhanced to suit the author’s narrative in order to make a most captivating story.
Thousands of prisoners were interned for all kinds of reasons and thousands died in the Gulags during the time Stalin was in power. After his death and a power struggle Khrushchev emerged victorious and denounced Stalin’s purges and ushered a less repressive regime, thousands of prisoners were pardon and sent free, Cilka’s and the man she had fallen in love with were among them.
I did not find this novel to have a depressing story but rather one that showcase resilience and hope. This is a well-written, well researched story hard to put down.
I receive this ARC from the publisher St-Martin’s Press via NetGalleys for my thoughts.
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