just finished reading

Let me state very clearly that this book has nothing to do with the E.L. James novels.

This historical fiction focuses on a rarely told story--that of Lenin's reign in Russia and the twenty-million victims of that reign of terror.

From the publisher:

It is June, 1941. Soviets have occupied Lithuania—intellectuals are being deported. One night, fifteen-year-old Lina's home is abruptly invaded by NKVD officers; she, her younger brother Jonas, and her mother are given twenty minutes to pack and leave. Lina's father, a university provost, has already been arrested. From this dramatic beginning, readers follow the Vilkas family on a grueling journey from one bleak labor camp to another, ending at the most hopeless, icy Trofimovsk on the Arctic coast. In her own words and flashbacks from prewar life, Lina (a talented artist) records their story and draws her pictures, always hoping to find their father and determined to survive. Sepetys has drawn each character in the captive group (and one Russian guard) superbly, letting readers understand their motives, flaws, and strengths as the story progresses. Some, like a young mother and her baby, perish; others like Andrius and his mother are forced into bitter compromise with the NKVD. Most of the group help each other in whatever ways they can—Lina's lovely mother sustains them all. Young readers will find it painful to read about the cruelty of the Soviets, constant humiliation of the prisoners, debilitating hunger and cold, Lina's separation from Andrius, whom she has grown to love. Still, this story, little known to Americans, is important to tell. Sepetys, herself a daughter of a Lithuanian refugee, has done extensive research, traveled, and interviewed survivors to write a heart-breaking novel based on absolute truth, revealing the horrors and brutality of war, but also the power of love, understanding, and devotion to family and country. Two maps show readers the magnitude of Lina's journey.

There is something beautiful about the resiliency in this novel. It truly is a story of hope.