Release Day Review: Cilka's Journey by Heather Morris
New from
the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Heather
Morris, comes this powerful new book based on a heart-breaking true story.
Her beauty
saved her life – and condemned her.
In
1942 Cilka Klein is just sixteen years old when she is taken to
Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp. The Commandant at Birkenau,
Schwarzhuber, notices her long beautiful hair, and forces her separation from the
other women prisoners. Cilka learns quickly that power, even unwillingly given,
equals survival.
After
liberation, Cilka is charged as a collaborator by the Russians and sent to a
desolate, brutal prison camp in Siberia known as Vorkuta, inside the Arctic
Circle.
Innocent,
but imprisoned once again, Cilka faces challenges both new and horribly
familiar, each day a battle for survival. Cilka befriends a woman doctor, and
learns to nurse the ill in the camp, struggling to care for them under
unimaginable conditions. And when she tends to a man called Alexandr, Cilka
finds that despite everything, there is room in her heart for love.
Based
on what is known of Cilka Klein’s time in Auschwitz, and on the experience of
women in Siberian prison camps, Cilka’s Journey is the
breathtaking sequel to the internationally bestselling novel The Tattooist of Auschwitz. A powerful testament
to the triumph of the human will, this novel will make you weep, but it will
also leave you astonished and uplifted by one woman’s fierce determination to
survive, against all odds.
‘She was
the bravest person I ever met’
Lale Sokolov, the Tattooist of Auschwitz
Lale Sokolov, the Tattooist of Auschwitz
**ARC provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review**
"She was the bravest
person I ever met." —Lale Sokolov on Cilka Klein, The Tattooist of
Auschwitz. I agree 100% with Lale. Cilka's Journey isn't easy to read because
of all the evil and horrific acts of violence and torture. I can't read a lot
of books that are based on true stories set in the war because it just
emotionally drains me completely. However, I think it is very important to read
the stories of these brave and resilient people who have survived or have tried
to. I have read The Tattooist of Auschwitz and enjoyed it, but I loved Cilka's
Journey. Cilka was brave and strong, but she had her moments that some things
were just too much for her. Her past that came to haunt her in her dreams, and
she also suffered from survivor guilt. In this book she did everything in her
power to help the people she cared for and also for complete strangers. I was
in complete awe of her and fell in love with her character.
The title of this book is perfect. This book is about Cilka and her journey to freedom and forgiving herself for everything that happened. There was so much more I would've loved to know about her, so I am sad that she wasn't alive to tell the story herself. However, Heather Morris did an incredible job in bringing Cilka's story to life and I am very happy that she decided to write it. This book was heartbreaking and I just couldn't contain my tears. It also had very beautiful moments that brought a smile to my face, and I am happy that Cilka created her own family that loved her back. These type of stories need to be continued to be written down and passed along, because we should never forget what happened and do everything in our power to make sure it doesn't ever happen again. I am a fan of Heather Morris' writing and beautiful story-telling abilities, and I very much look forward to what she will write next.
The title of this book is perfect. This book is about Cilka and her journey to freedom and forgiving herself for everything that happened. There was so much more I would've loved to know about her, so I am sad that she wasn't alive to tell the story herself. However, Heather Morris did an incredible job in bringing Cilka's story to life and I am very happy that she decided to write it. This book was heartbreaking and I just couldn't contain my tears. It also had very beautiful moments that brought a smile to my face, and I am happy that Cilka created her own family that loved her back. These type of stories need to be continued to be written down and passed along, because we should never forget what happened and do everything in our power to make sure it doesn't ever happen again. I am a fan of Heather Morris' writing and beautiful story-telling abilities, and I very much look forward to what she will write next.
"I am a Native of New Zealand now resident in Australia, working in a large public hospital in Melbourne. For several years I studied and wrote screenplays, one of which was optioned by an academy award winning Screenwriter in the U.S. In 2003, I was introduced to an elderly gentleman "who might just have a story worth telling". The day I met Lale Sokolov changed my life, as our friendship grew and he embarked on a journey of self scrutiny, entrusting the inner most details of his life during the Holocaust. I originally wrote Lale's story as a screenplay - which ranked high in international competitions - before reshaping it into my debut novel, The Tattooist of Auschwitz."
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