In the Shadow of Wolves

Let me make it clear from the get go that this is not a feel good read. This book is based on real events that occurred at the end of World War II when people were faced with making impossible decisions no one should ever have to make. Most of us look back at history and see the Nazis being beaten back as a victory, and it was, but the ensuing fallout left many people facing horrors just as unimaginable as those perpetrated by the Nazis.In East Prussia, the Soviet army is advancing into a world of starving and terrified women and children. The women there know that their fight is just beginning and many make the choice to send their children alone into the forest, with hopes that the children would reach Lithuania, where they might be fed and cared for. I know several people who won’t read this book because they cannot imagine, as a parent, having to make a decision like that. How lucky we are that we have that luxury and how foolish would be to imagine that atrocities like this do not occur every day and that one day we might be tasked with making a decision no one should ever have to make. This story is brutal, stark and honest and tells a little known story that we all need to know

All I can say is “wow!” I finished In the Shadow of Wolves in just three days. I could not put it down. What I loved was how raw the story was. I cried at the pain and struggles of the characters. This is by far the best historical fiction novel I have ever read!

This is the first book in a while to have me staying up late in order to find out what horrible thing (because you know it can only be horrible things) will happen next. It is as dark and bleak as it is fascinating and gripping. For however brief the characters may be in the story, Slepikas makes you root for their survival even though you know it is futile. Now I see what the eastern European equivalent of Grave of the Fireflies could be like.

The struggles of World War II did not end with liberation. In the Shadow of Wolves is a stark, at times bleak, un-romanticized look at what became of some of Germany's children after the war under Soviet occupation. Some of these children became what was known as Wolf Children, migrating into Lithuania for a chance at survival. Though grim, the story bears telling and shows the full range of human cruelty and sympathy experienced by the war's most vulnerable victims.

Having spent 15+ years married to a man of Eastern European descent [his parent's were from Estonia and fled the Russians by crossing the Baltic Sea at night to Sweden], I spent many a night listening to stories such as this one of just what everyone had to do to survive the war and the Russians once the war was over. And it was all as horrific as you could imagine. This book brought many of those stories back to my mind as I read it.
Most people are unaware of the things that happened in the Baltic States and in Russia during and after World War 2 and it is books like this that bring these things to light and it is important that we learn and remember these things - we must never forget and we must never let it happen again.
This book was very true to life and my heart broke again and again as I read this story. A must read in my opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley and Oneworld Publications for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In the Shadow of Wolves, Alvydas Slepikas's stunning debut and Winner of the Georg Dehio Book Prize 2018, is a fact-meets-fiction historical novel and I found my heart breaking time and time again whilst reading. It tells the story of destitute German women and children and their fight for survival having been forcibly removed from their homes by resettling Red Army soldiers. These children were sent by their mothers over the border into neighbouring Lithuania to scavenge and beg for food in the hope that they would be safe there; this is where the name Wolfskinder or Wolf Children came from. Based on real events that occurred in 1946 it is clear from the outset that Slepikas has researched this topic extensively making it authentic and compelling.

Make no mistake, though, this is a brutal, stark and profoundly moving look at a neglected part of WWII and its aftermath; a piece of history that deserves to be known. The author has to be lauded for his vivid, lyrical prose as it was so rich that I found tears rolling down my cheeks at some of the passages. The cruelty these women and children were subjected to will break even the coldest of hearts. It is by far the most affecting historical fiction novel I have ever read and with its rawness, it takes the reader on an emotional rollercoaster ride. It's certainly not for the faint-hearted as the atrocities committed by the Soviets are reprehensible and reading about them in such detail was very emotional; I felt my blood beginning to boil at times. The atmosphere is so visceral that you feel everything for the characters.

An incredible novel; it's amazing to think that this is a debut. I cannot wait to see what Slepikas publishes in the future. A rare talent and a book that deserves to be widely read. Many thanks to Oneworld Publications for an ARC.

Such a well-researched and written book. The suffering of starving women and children near the end of WWII is a heart-wrenching story, showing the atrocities of war at their lowest. But the bravery and perseverance of these characters make the strength of the human spirit shine through. Well done and well worth the read!

I have read a lot of book set in WWII so when I sat down to read this book I was a little surprised. This is not your feel good two lovers find each other at the end of the war and lived happily ever after. This book will break your heart. I never knew what German children had to go through and it just makes me sad. Along with Night by Elie Wiesel this book should be on the required reading list at school.