On the Wings of Hope

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.