Review: Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

World War II is nearing its end.  In East Prussia, thousands of refugees are attempting to escape toward freedom, including Joana, Emilia, and Florian.  This trio find one another on a trek to board the Wilhelm Gustloff, a battle ship converted to a refugee transport.

Emilia is a fifteen year old Polish girl, the horror she experienced during the war not immediately apparent. She is rescued by Florian, her "knight," who has many a secret of his own. In his possession is a valuable secret that may invoke, on inhibit, his path to freedom. Joana, a young Lithuanian nurse leads this trio to safety, her medical skills guaranteeing her entry onto the Wilhelm Gustloff.  This trio, unlikely and motley for a host of reasons, must learn to trust one another if freedom is to be their end result.

This book has been the source of quite a few arguments in my house!  Once I obtained the ARC, I squirreled it away to read when the timing was right. And then my teen son discovered I had it in my possession. A teen son obsessed with all things WWII.  A teen son who impatiently waited as I devoured it.

I’ve read and watched a bit of history, given my teen son’s obsession (that he gets from his father).  Yet the story of the Wilhelm Gustloff is one I hadn’t yet heard. Apparently, it’s one of World War II’s best kept secrets, and I’m forever thankful to Sepetys for bringing the story to light, albeit in a piece of historical fiction.

Sepetys doesn’t weigh the story down with historical details and facts.  Instead, she reveals them through her characters, all dynamic and incredibly well-crafted and developed. It is through their eyes that we experience the travesties of war, the unspeakable incidents that brought these characters together. In addition to the three main characters, Sepetys also creates a cast of secondary characters that readers will adore and, in one instance, simultaneously hate.

Each chapter is told by a different character’s point of view.  They are short, some only a few pages, but this keeps the pacing of the novel moving along. Readers are only given brief snippets of the characters as they read, but it’s amazing at how well they all come together into well-defined individuals by the end.

I cannot get over the beauty of this book. Though written about a horrific time in history, the author manages to make it beautiful, moving, and completely addictive.  It wasn’t just my son’s constant pressure to read this book that compelled me to read, it was my complete and utter fascination with it.  Sepetys is known for bringing stories that history forgot to light; she has once again succeeded in a completely remarkably, immeasurably powerful way.  Highly, highly recommended.