Item: On the Wings of Hope
Rating: 5.00
Author: bookanonjeff

by Ella Zeiss

As World War II draws to a close, can two young people find love, hope—and freedom?

February 1942: Terrifying reports of the Wehrmacht’s advance across the Soviet Union spread like wildfire, striking new fear into the already oppressed German families living there.

Harri Pfeiffer, now sixteen, is summoned to the forced labour camp in Chelyabinsk. With men around him dying by the hundreds, every day is a fight for survival in a world plagued with despair.

Three years later, with the war finally over, Yvo Scholz arrives in Chelyabinsk, desperate for news of her brother, who was also last seen being dispatched to the labour camp. Still uncertain of the fate of her father, it takes all Yvo’s unshakeable courage to build a new life for herself while she waits for hope to return.

When their paths intersect, Harri and Yvo find a connection they never thought possible. But faced with hostility and discrimination, do they dare to dream they will one day be free—together?

ATypical WWII Novel. In several ways, this is a typical WWII romance-ish novel, maybe of a Russian kind (ie, hard times all over the place, can be seen as depressing at times, yet ultimately a story of survival and love). In many other ways, this is a very *atypical* WWII novel. For one, it doesn't take place in the more common Western Europe setting, but instead mostly in Soviet forced labor camps. For another, well, the whole "Soviet" thing doesn't get seen too much in Western WWII historical fiction novels. And finally, this is actually directly based on the real-world travails of the author's grandparents, making it the first time I've seen a novel of the type I myself hope to write someday. Overall truly a tremendous work, and very much recommended.

On the Wings of Hope

by Ella Zeiss

Reviewed by Jeff Sexton on Nov 30, 2020

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