When Hitler's troops invade Ukraine and Russia in 1937, history student Lyudmila (Mila) Pavlichenko quits her library job, leaves her beloved little boy in the care of her parents, and enlists in the army as a sniper-- becoming a lethal hunter of Nazis known as Lady Death. When news of her three hundredth kill makes her a national heroine, Mila is taken from the bloody battlefields of the eastern front and sent to America on a goodwill tour.
Still recovering from serious wounds and grieving the loss of loved ones, Mila feels isolated and totally out of place in the rarefied air of Washington, DC until an unexpected friendship with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and an even more unexpected connection with a fellow sniper make her think she may have a chance at happiness.
But there are enemies-- both old and new-- in the shadows, and Mila finds herself in the midst of the most important battle of her life.
~
The Diamond Eye is just the sort of historical fiction that I love to read. It's based on a true story about an incredible woman, and not only did I get a feel for the era, how women survived in the military, and what the life of a sniper is like, I fell completely under the spell of Lyudmila (Mila) Pavlichenko.
The story is told mainly by Mila, but we also hear from Eleanor Roosevelt as well as a paid assassin. How author Kate Quinn managed to write a story from these three very different points of view and keep each one of the characters so compelling is a sign of her talent, and it will definitely keep me coming back for more. (Yes, this is the first book of hers that I've read.) I also appreciated her Author's Notes as well as the bibliography at the end. The notes showed me how the author blended fact and fiction, and the bibliography will help me find the books I need for further reading.
And Lyudmila Pavlichenko is definitely a person worth reading more about. Strong, determined, smart, yet flawed, she is just the type of person to prove that you should never turn your back on historians or librarians.
The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn
eISBN: 9780062943521
William Morrow © 2022
eBook, 448 pages
Historical Fiction, Standalone
Rating: A
Source: Purchased from Amazon.
This sounds fascinating, Cathy! I was just reading the other day about Russian and Belorussian women who were snipers during WW II. Such an interesting aspect of the war that I knew nothing about before. I wonder how many other untold stories there are of the way women got things done during wartime.
ReplyDeleteA lot. And I love that more and more of them are coming to light.
DeleteIt does sound like a winner. I'm putting it on my "want to read" list.
ReplyDeleteIf you get a chance to read it, I hope you enjoy it, Dorothy.
DeleteMila sounds like quite the character! And the fact that this book is based on true events makes it even more fascinating.
ReplyDeleteThat's one of the things that "sold" the book to me, Lark.
DeleteWartime snipers are a special breed, for sure. I'm always torn between admiring them or wondering about how cold and calculated their emotions really are. Does this one make that distinction. Was she universally called a hero or did some doubt her just a bit?
ReplyDeleteYes, this book does make that distinction, Sam. At first, she was not universally called a hero, mainly because humans with the Y chromosome refused to believe that she could be so good at something like that. Promotions and medals were regularly withheld from her while others far less deserving moved up the ladder. Then something happened that couldn't be hidden, and she was considered by her country to be a hero.
DeleteI've had this on my list. I read The Rose Code from her last year, and was impressed, so I'll try more. And with Eleanor Roosevelt, well...
ReplyDeleteYes, Eleanor Roosevelt was a selling point for me, too. I'll have to take a look at The Rose Code, although I think she wrote one about the Night Witches that really caught my interest.
DeleteFascinating. Do you know the name of the person the character is based on? Hope you can find some nonfiction to further your learning about her.
ReplyDeleteHer name was Lyudmila Pavlichenko. Quinn used her real name in the book.
DeleteI just read a very good article about Lyudmila Pavlichenko posted by the Smithsonian. What a brave, fascinating woman. And I'm embarrassed that when she came to the U.S., she was criticized for not wearing make-up or stylish clothes. I mean really? Her countrymen and women were in a fight for their lives with the German Nazi army. So glad Eleanor Roosevelt recognized her as a heroic woman and became her friend.
ReplyDeleteThey even asked her what kind of underwear she wore. For cryin' out loud!!!
DeleteOmigosh. Such ignorance and just idiocy. The Soviet Union lost millions of people, civilians and military. And here was a woman hero who the Nazis could not beat. This superficiality and sexism still goes on against women celebrities, politicians, experts, pundits, not war heroes. But still it's absurd.
ReplyDeleteAnd it gets more absurd as each year passes. I wonder how the men would react if they started getting asked about their jock straps?
DeleteThe trolls on the twitterverse would use it to attack women again. Why can't this society end this horrid misogyny?
ReplyDelete