Age Group: 12+ Years

Description:

** CILIP Carnegie Medal 2017 winner—historical fiction masterpiece.**

Winter 1945: Desperate refugees trudge through East Prussia's frozen hell, chasing salvation aboard the Wilhelm Gustloff. Four haunted youths narrate converging fates: guilt-ridden German girl Emilia; guilt-wracked Polish shoemaker Florian; ambitious Lithuanian nurse Joana; and enigmatic Latvian orphan Eva. Each hides shattering secrets amid war's rubble. When Soviet torpedoes doom the overloaded liner—9,000+ souls aboard, history's deadliest maritime disaster—survival becomes primal savagery in Baltic waters. Sepetys illuminates forgotten voices from WWII's darkest footnote. Unforgettable testament to lost innocents.