Strength from within.

Although this book is fiction it is based on facts researched by the author concerning the people and conditions of Auschwitz and the Russian Gulag in Siberia. The facts are sad but believable considering what was done to the Jewish people and those that did not agree with Stalin's philosophy or were deemed spies for some reason or another, some of them very young.

The story is about a young girl named Cilka and her time spent is both Auschwitz and in the Russian Gulag following. Think how it must have been for a sixteen year old girl separated from her family in the concentration camp and trying to stay alive, trying to help her sister and her friends. It brought tears when she had to put her mother on the truck to take her to be burned in the Auschwitz crematorium ovens.

As if that was not enough when the Russians came and liberated the camp of Auschwitz she was questioned and sent to prison for sleeping with the Nazi's. This was hard to think of as she had no choice in what she did in the camps, do as told or die. Nevertheless she was eventually sent to a Russian Gulag where she was sentences to 15 years hard labor. She was 18 years old now surviving for 3 long years in Auschwitz.

The crux of the story surrounds her time and survival in the Russian Gulag with flashbacks to the German camp. She is lost at first but makes friends with the other prisoner's in the hut she is housed in, especially a 15 year old girl named Jose. She is a strong woman and with no regards to her well being she protects the best of her ability her friends especially her young friend. A woman doctor in the hospital takes her under her wing and helps her with a job in the hospital instead of working in the mines.

While horrible things happen to her and other's in the Gulag she stays strong and focuses on the good that she can do to help other's in the hospital and on the ambulance. She throws herself into her job in order to not think about the horrible conditions of the camp and the awful treatment of the prisoner's there. When given the chance to leave by the Commandant's wife she asks for the release of her friend Jose instead.

One day while on an ambulance run a young man she has a crush on but has never talked to is beaten and left for dead. She takes him to the hospital and helps him live. In the process she falls in love with him and he falls in love with her. She never thought this could ever happen to her.

Although the book has some sad moments, the rapes of the women, the starving with the thin soup and hard bread and the back breaking work in the mines, it also shows the good in people. The other prisoner's in her hut, the doctors that help her. The women make it a home by embroidering doilies form threads from the ends of their sheets, they look out for each other and they become like a family in the midst of a horrible situation they find a way to make this situation just a bit better.

I liked the way the author humanizes the characters and the way that the descriptions are clear and sometimes brutal but true for the situation. I think that the explanation of the Gulags and the research is very informative and a valuable part of the book.

I did not read the first book but this book stands alone and I enjoyed reading it, I learned so much I did not know before. Every time I read a different book on WWII and the Holocaust I learn something new. I still will never understand why the Nazi's were so cruel and why the soviets imprisoned so many that had already suffered so much.

If you have an interest in history and would like to know about the little spoken about Russian Gulags which were in my opinion almost a duplication of the concentration camps you need to read this book, it has so much information. I would recommend it.

Thank you NG for the 48 hour window to finish this compelling novel.
I cried at the dinner table, telling my husband about this book that consumed my Sunday. This is the best book I’ve read all summer and my heart continues to grieve for those women in the hut.

I found this book to be absolutely unputdownable, and thus read it in one sitting. You often read about life inside the concentration camps but rarely do you hear anything about the time after. I had no idea that many of the survivors were imprisoned again after being rescued, and especially not for such trivial (i.e nonexsistant) offenses. It is amazing that Cilka or anyone like her actually managed to survive and even thrive after so much injustice and torture.. I can't imagine how devastating it must have been to survive Auschwitz only to be sent to a Siberian Gulag. This book is an incredible story of the absolute strength and tenacity of a young girl determined to survive. That Cilka was a real person who actually went through all of this ( and undoubtedly so much more) makes the book that much more amazing and heartbreaking.

This was definitely a different read for me. It tells of the hell people had to live in in the gulags of Russia as prisoners after WW2. This is an emotional and heart wrenching journey of Cilka’s life after surviving Auschwitz Birkenau. She was a prisoner just for surviving. It also shows love, courage and friendship during a very hard time. Would definitely recommend. Thank you netgalley for letting me give an honest review of this book.

Such a moving, heartfelt book. An emotional story of what happened “after.” A story of resilience and bravery. Wonderful!

Cilka is first introduced in the Tattooist of Auschwitz. Heather Morris weaves a heartbreaking saga of Cilka’s early life drawing on fascinating actual research to tell the story of Cilka’s life. What is different about this historical novel, is that Cilka was a real person and this is her story. After surviving Auschwitz-Birkenau, Cilka becomes a prisoner in the Soviet Gulag. You will fall in love with the other characters and how they are interwoven into the story. Cilka’s Journey is an absolutely outstanding novel of tragedy, fortitude, and hope. For ardent fans of Tattooist, you are in for a wonderful reading experience...for Cilka’s Journey is even better. It is 6 stars!!!!

A story of bone deep suffering with glimmers of hope here and there. Perseverance and survival with no end in sight. A crude doily, a chipped mug with a little flower plucked from frozen, arrid earth. The simple pleasures in life we all take for granted. Cilka's ordeals, punishment, bravery and deep love make for an evocative, emotional read. It is the tale of true sacrifice for those she called her friends, her sisters in survival. It is a tale of toneless brutality at the hands of disinterested, entitled people in power - just because they could. The fact that the book is based on a true story makes it that much more heartbreaking. Well written, well researched - a truly excellent book.

Privileged to have the opportunity to read this ARC from Netgalley. Heather Morris has done it again with this beautifully written story of courage, bravery and compassion against all odds where hope and courage can take root in even the darkest of places

At 10:50 a.m. I received an email inviting me to read an advanced copy of Heather Morris’ sequel to the Tattooist of Auschwitz, Cilka’s Journey. At 11:00 p.m., I finished it. Pretty sure that’s never happened before. Good. Book.
I had not read The Tattooist prior to reading this (though it will be delivered today) and it is not necessary to have read it to enjoy Cilka’s Journey. This is a beautifully written, very readable account of Cilka Klein’s story after Auschwitz. Yes, all books from this horrific part of human history are about loss and survival, but this one is also about relationships and the human condition.
The characters came alive and were consistently written all the way through. The story flowed like water and I couldn’t put it down. I really appreciated the additional history included at the end. This is why I read historical fiction.

***I received this book as an ARC on Netgalley from the publisher***

This is Heather Morris' follow up to The Tattooist of Auschwitz (which I recommend you read first). This book tells the story of Cilka, a woman originally placed in Auschwitz for being a Jew who was later sent to the Soviet gulags for helping the Nazis...which she didn't. This is a story of survival, friendship, and the ability to love others in horrible circumstances. This was such a good book I read it in less than 12 hours and still wish there was more.