I loved Renata’s story of survival in the upheaval and chaos of WWII. Not only was she the only one remaining of her family, but she outlived the Russians’ rape and murder of millions of girls and women in 1945. The story is riveting and emphatic. There is nothing nice about war. Everything is reduced to its most basic. Only survival matters in whatever form and by whatever means conceivable. That is her story. It is inspiring and a testimony to human endurance in the face of horrendous adversity. I can’t help feeling so much of history should be rewritten by women. Emphasis and conclusions would be different. Every girl and woman should read this book.

                                                                                                           Maya Wilahowitz

The events of 1945 are all but forgotten now and were only perfunctorily known and studied by the generations who grew up since. Here is now a fascinating and compelling new book, which raises many critical questions: did Britain in fact single handedly start WWII in the West (?); did Britain deliberately kill ten times as many innocent civilians in Germany, as Germany did in Britain (?); was Eisenhower in fact responsible for the Battle of the Bulge, because he suspended the forward movement when he reached the German border (?); why has Stalin’s appalling and repulsive murder of two-million women and children all but been denied and covered up in the West (?), and I could go on and on.

Even though the conveying narrative of the story is fiction, 90% of the historical description is fact, and calls for early and serious re-examination of many old assumptions and simple propaganda. I read this book cover to cover and then I read it again. It is also a beautiful story of survival, both fascinating and delightful. It should have great movie potential.

                                                                                                                                Corey Overton