Why a Booktrail?
1940s: A harsh story told with the gentle and deft hand of the author making it all the more remarkable and heartbreaking. The descriptions of the suffering and poverty are chilling.
The Siege
What you need to know before your trail
The Siege tells the story of the Nazis’ 1941 winter siege on Leningrad that killed six hundred thousand.
One family, the Levins, fights to stay alive in their small apartment, held together by Anna who dreams of becoming an artist. she has to scavenge for food in the ever more desperate city and watch her little brother grow cruelly thin.
It seems that every one and everything is being tested. And yet Dunmore’s inspiring story shows that even then, the triumph of the human heart is that love need not fall away. Amid the turmoil of the siege, the unimaginable happens — two people enter the Levins’ frozen home and bring hope and romance where before there were none.
Travel Guide
The book opens with a translation of a decree, issued under Hitler’s authority, stating that because the city of Leningrad is of no use or value to the Germans it will be wiped out. Its inhabitants included. This then sets the scene for the rest of the novel detailing the human aspect of this most brutal aspect of war.
Helen Dunmore looks at what such a decree would have meant for the average person – surviving day to day, rationing etc and a cold cold fear.
Whether you are familiar or not with The Battle of Leningrad, this is a gentle introduction – not to much in depth but enough to make you want to read more. Poignant and hard hitting, it draws you to the city today.
Booktrail Boarding Pass Information:
Web: helendunmore.com
Back to ResultsWhere Next?
