Between Shades of Gray

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I first heard about the Baltic purges about 10 years ago, when a friend mentioned that her Latvian mother and grandparents had been in a Soviet prison camp for a few years before coming to the US. Between Shades of Gray is a brutal but touching novel about 15-year-old who overnight goes from the usual teenage concerns to fighting for her life as an enemy of the Soviet state sent to prison camps in Siberia. Periodic flashbacks provide information about the slow progression toward the Soviet takeover, brief vignettes that meant little at the time to Lina, our protagonist. Sepetys based the story on reports from family members and others who faced similar circumstances as well as other primary sources, which make the tale that much more horrifying. The ending is rather ambiguous, leaving a large gap in the time frame between the denouement and the epilogue. But that too seems appropriate, considering how many people never knew the confirmed fates of loved ones swept up in the madness.



View all my reviews