From Gulag to Freedom, A Review

Today I am reviewing Sigrid Weidenweber‘s book, From Gulag to Freedom. This is the third book in a trilogy of historical fiction. My copy was provided by MediaGuests.net.

About the Book
In my darkest hours, when worry and despair about the future of my family blankets my soul, I hear my father’s voice, giving me hope. On the day they dragged him to the gulag, he had looked at my mother with courage in his eyes, and said, “We are eternal; our faith, like the Volga, flows forever.”

The heroine of this powerful work, Katya, is a bright, energetic and resourceful Volga German girl, a worthy descendant of those first pioneers of the steppe we learned to know in the second volume. Katya is free to reveal, through her feminine creator, thoughts and circumstances often hidden to men. Sigrid artfully illuminates dress, colors, textures, foods and challenges as Katya embarks upon an adventurous escape from a gulag on the arctic tundra.

About the Author
Born in Germany in 1941, Sigrid Weidenweber remembers the horrific aftermath of fascism. At the end of the war, she found herself living under communism. After the Berlin Wall was built, she managed to escape the repressive environment with the help of friends and a French passport. To this day she does not speak French.

She holds degrees in medical technology, psychology and an Honorary Doctor of Letters from Concordia University of Portland, Oregon for her trilogy “The Volga Flows Forever.” In her trilogy she brings to life Catherine the Great in her multiple roles as monarch, woman–lover, mother, grandmother and head of the general staff of the army, in Volume one. The following two historical volumes deal with the Volga Germans brought to Russia by Catherine’s edict.

Three years ago she moved to Santa Rosa Valley, California from Portland Oregon. She has passionately embraced California together with her family that also resides here.

Visit the Author’s Website

My Review
I have truly enjoyed this trilogy of historical fiction. There is such richness in the telling that I feel I am there, witnessing the beauty, the expanse, the realistic hardship, the fear, and most vividly – the cold.

Katya is a wonderful heroine with an unbeatable spirit who does her very best to survive in whatever conditions she finds herself in. I love her strength – both in body and mind, as well as deeply embedded character. This is a woman who is a survivor, one to be proud of and model after. Her faith, and her memories of her parents’ faith, give her strength when she truly needs it.

Sigrid Weidenweber has written a true masterpiece in this trilogy. Each book is around 560-580 pages, but every page is worth the time to read. I found myself learning about the hardships we can only guess at from the freedom and comfort of our homes today. I gained a respect for peoples I never knew of before. There suffering at the hands of fellow countrymen is astounding and heartbreaking. But it seems that it has always been like this in the former Soviet Union.

The story is well written and told. I can highly recommend this book, and trilogy, to anyone who wants a deeper look into what made the Soviet Union, and what would ultimately break the USSR. This story goes much deeper than Dr. Zhivago and is a better story, hands down. Get your copy of the book today!

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