The Drau River Flows to Siberia
The Victims of Victory
by Marina Osipova
This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app
1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date 25 Oct 2023 | Archive Date 19 Oct 2023
Talking about this book? Use #TheDrauRiverFlowstoSiberia #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!
Description
February 4–11, 1945. Yalta, a resort town on the Crimean Peninsula, Soviet Union. The Big Three are posing for a camera. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin. All smiling. Stalin, his head is half a turn away from the other two. A shrewd smirk is hiding behind his walrus mustache. He seems to be pleased. Why wouldn’t he be? The Big Three signed the agreement that will shape the fate of Europe and . . .
In 1941, Anna is sixteen, almost an adult yet still a child, craving independence and keen to become an operetta actress. Her rosy aspirations are disrupted by the war. When Krasnodar is taken by the Wehrmacht, she is one of the populace who are ordered to repair roads for the occupants’ trucks and cars and, in fall, to toil in the fields for the sake of sending the harvest to the enemy’s land. A dire event coerces her to go to Germany where she is auctioned as a slave worker.
Born in Berlin into an émigré Cossack family, young Zakhary is more interested in books and archeology than in the war that is raging through Europe, even less in the cause of his parents and their friends, which is to overthrow the Bolshevik regime in the Soviet Union and revert to Imperial Russia. He just doesn’t want to be a part of it. That is, until he finds himself among the Cossacks fighting alongside the Germans against the Allies.
In Italy, he meets Marishka, a young woman of Cossack heritage who fled the Soviet Union with other anti-Soviet Cossacks and departing German troops under the push of the Red Army. They fall in love and marry. And then, on June 1, 1945, Lienz happened.
After the war, a ghastly fate propels each of them to the merciless land where skies are leaden gray, frosts plunge below -60°C in winter, and the woods are impenetrable and so vast, there is no escape from there.
Anna and Zakhary carry with them their personal wounds, at the same time haunted by unbearable guilt, which they can’t undo or fix. In 1955, fate brings them together on an isolated peninsula of the Ob River, connected to one another in inextricably entangled ways they do not yet realize. More than a decade later, can they bury the cruel past and build a future for themselves in the country without Stalin but sealed behind the Iron Curtain?
This is their story, relived in one day.
Advance Praise
"“Every once in a while, you come across a story in a book that stays with you, the memories from scenes etched into your gray matter–the emotions you felt fresh, as if witnessing them in this alive, present moment. These are the stories that become classics, like Doctor Zhivago and I use that title intentionally, for I am reminded of the depth of Pasternak’s work, having just read Osipova’s novel The Drau River Flows to Siberia: The Victims of Victory. Just as Yuri Andreyevich Zhivago and Larissa “Lara” Antipova have stayed with me, so have Osipova’s characters Anna and Zakhary. This is no ordinary war-torn story, it is a cultural masterpiece that opens a window into life in Russia and Austria and the impact of WW2 on ordinary people.”—Paulette Mahurin, an internationally acclaimed author, a recipient of prestigious awards, and #1 Bestselling Amazon Author.
“Fiction and reality mix in Marina Osipova’s remarkable book. This story is dark and emotionally charged; it enthralled me to the very last page. It captures postwar events which to this day very few know about. The Drau River Flows to Siberia: The Victims of Victory pulled me into my own family’s experiences and made me feel the heartbreaking trauma of that time in a deeply personal way. For me, it was not just a casual story. Reading about the experiences of Stalin’s exiles in Siberia made me deeply aware of my gratitude for spending the early 1950s in a refugee camp in Trieste, rather than in the Soviet gulags. This thought-provoking tale is powerful, realistic, and will stay with me for a long time.”—Tania Amochaev, author of One Hundred Years of Exile: A Romanov’s Search For Her Father’s Russia
“The stories of WWII are countless, but some of them were purposely silenced. This masterful piece of writing by Marina Osipova is one of the few that has brought to the surface an episode in the war which some would gladly keep hidden. The author has resurrected a shameful act that was perpetrated by victorious Allies against innocent victims, albeit in the name of geopolitical hegemony through agreements emanating from the Yalta Conference. I, as an Englishman, having been brought up in the traditional way of honour and the Marquess of Queensbury rules, etc., found it hard to read the very disturbing account of this disgraceful period of British military history. The event known as the Massacre of Cossacks at Lienz in Austria was meant to be a controlled handing over of Cossacks, including women and children and the elderly, to the Russians. Osipova’s fictional historical narrative of the horrific period is based on real events and archival materials and focuses on the lives of individuals whose fate was decided by the Allies.”—David Huntley, author of Deathwatch Beetle, a Historical Post WWII Spy Thriller
“Marina Osipova has once again brought to life little-known aspects of WWII history in an emotionally charged story that takes us on a long and tragic journey from Austria, liberated by the Allies from the Nazi regime, to the gulags of Siberia. Meticulously researched, this book is highly recommended.”—Kathryn Gauci, USA TODAY Bestselling author of The Viennese Dressmaker: A Haunting Story of Wartime Vienna
“This is without a doubt an excellent five star read with a story about an event that many unfortunately don’t know anything about. I, myself, had only heard about it a few years ago and there is far too little information about people and their stories. I applaud Ms. Osipova for writing such a book and not holding anything back. At times the story makes you uncomfortable, but history is often unpleasant nor is it black or white. I cannot recommend this book enough to everyone, regardless of their own reading preference. This is a story that can’t be missed.”—Rachel R. Heil, author of Behind the Darkened Glass and Leningrad series
Available Editions
| ISBN | 9798861522564 |
| PRICE | US$3.99 (USD) |
| PAGES | 390 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Lisa G, Reviewer
This is the fourth book I've read by Marina Osipova so I was prepared to learn about little-known historical events while experiencing soul-crushing despair on behalf of the characters. I knew nothing about the human cost at the end of WW II due to the Yalta Agreement and now I will never be able to erase it from my memory.
The story unfolds as Anna begins to tell her tale to Zakhary while they are both waiting on the boat to take them away from Siberia. It is 1955, and each has finally been released from the Gulag system. The author masterfully shows what happens to ordinary people when they are caught up in a war and a totalitarian country. I can't imagine the joy of surviving the war only to be sent to Siberia as an enemy of the Soviet Union. Anna, Zakhary, and so many others truly were "the victims of victory." Their shameful fate had been sealed in Yalta by Churchill and Roosevelt. It's past time for this to be exposed and reading this book as well as sharing it is a good start. I highly recommend it to everyone who enjoys historical fiction.
Many thanks to NetGalley & the publisher for the digital ARC. All opinions and the review are my own.
Kasia K, Educator
Refreshing!
In the past decade, there were a number of books published that are called Pop-Holocaust. These are historically inaccurate novels, with strong romantic threads and are often set in the most horrible places of terror you can imagine, such as Auschwitz. Many argued that these novels are highly disrespectful towards the 6 million of victims. I totally agree.
Instinctively I felt that a novel written by a Russian author would be closer to the real events and would show great empathy and understanding of the lives of ordinary people and their fate during the Soviet era. I´m pleased to say that I was right.
The whole story is told by two people Anna and Zakhary. They meet in Syberia and they tell each other about their past. The narration goes backward and forwards. In such cases, it´s easy to create a mess and put the reader off, because it's easy to lose track. Here, however, I want to highlight that the author and the editing team have done a brilliant job. Zakhary's story starts at 30% of the book. This simple decision makes such a difference. I didn´t get lost in time and their stories. I knew exactly where were we at all times. The reading experience was flawless. Thank you :)
The stories are based on real events. I´ve read over many years lots of true accounts written by survivors, enough to know that what the author portrays here is totally believable. I am familiar with the Yalta agreement and the repatriations. But I had no idea about the Cossaks' military involvement in WW2. So I guess I learned something new.
It´s a very good book. Definitely worth your time.
Readers who liked this book also liked:
