Journey into Fire

Productinformatie

Historical Romance - This is the story of the grandson of the two main characters in her previous novel "A Space of the Heart." That book dealt with the politics and culture of the Crimean War era. This one picks up and follows the grandson, "Kolya" as he joins the revolution as a young believer, fights grimly through the first world war, gives up the violin and art in general and ends up running a collective farm, returns to the battle in WWII and ends up as a General, protesting Soviet policies. Its a gorgeous and involving book--I can still remember, 30 years after reading it, the horrific description of his first war experience where the other soldiers "good naturedly" make way for him to rape a young girl only to be surprised when he mercy-kills her to save her from being raped by the entire battalion and then killed. He survives the war and thrives, for a while, under the new Soviet regime but eventually makes enemies in his role as leader of a collective farm. His is forced to divorce his beloved wife and ends up in prison for a while, only to be released in time to fight the Germans in the Second WW. The claustrophobia of the political world, and the immensity and distance of the physical battle, combine to give you a really moving and gripping portrait of a period and a society.