Recommended for fans of Tattooist ... but also works well as standalone
First introduced in The Tattooist of Auschwitz (5 stars), Cilka Klein was just 16 years old when she was transported to Auschwitz against her will. Three years later, she was liberated from the internment camp only to find herself unfairly sentenced to 15 years of hard labor at Vorkuta Gulag in Siberia for allegedly sleeping with the enemy and being a spy.
Alternating between the past at Auschwitz (aka the same timeline as Tattooist) and the present at Vorkuta, both of Cilka's realities were hell on earth as she went from "one cruel, inhuman place to another." While reading Tattooist, I was intrigued by Cilka's character so I was excited when I heard about the sequel. Her circumstances were absolutely heartbreaking but like Lale, she learned that "finding a little hope in the darkness is not a weakness." If you loved Tattooist as much as I did, then I would highly recommend reading this account of Cilka's experiences. If you haven't, then it would also read just fine as a standalone.
Location: Auschwitz in Poland, Korkuta in Siberia and Kosice, Czechoslovakia
I received an advance copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
Alternating between the past at Auschwitz (aka the same timeline as Tattooist) and the present at Vorkuta, both of Cilka's realities were hell on earth as she went from "one cruel, inhuman place to another." While reading Tattooist, I was intrigued by Cilka's character so I was excited when I heard about the sequel. Her circumstances were absolutely heartbreaking but like Lale, she learned that "finding a little hope in the darkness is not a weakness." If you loved Tattooist as much as I did, then I would highly recommend reading this account of Cilka's experiences. If you haven't, then it would also read just fine as a standalone.
Location: Auschwitz in Poland, Korkuta in Siberia and Kosice, Czechoslovakia
I received an advance copy of this book. All opinions are my own.