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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'Her beauty saved her life - and condemned her.
'Cilka is just sixteen years old when she is taken to Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp, in 1942. The Commandant at Birkenau, Schwarzhuber, notices her long beautiful hair, and forces her separation from the other women prisoners. Cilka learns quickly that power, even unwillingly given, equals survival.
'After liberation, Cilka is charged as a collaborator for sleeping with the enemy and sent to Siberia. But what choice did she have? And where did the lines of morality lie for Cilka, who was sent to Auschwitz when still a child?
'In a Siberian prison camp, Cilka faces challenges both new and horribly familiar, including the unwanted attention of the guards. But when she makes an impression on a woman doctor, Cilka is taken under her wing. Cilka begins to tend to the ill in the camp, struggling to care for them under brutal conditions.
'Cilka finds endless resources within herself as she daily confronts death and faces terror. And when she nurses a man called Ivan, Cilka finds that despite everything that has happened to her, there is room in her heart for love.'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
Notes
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Cilka's Journey was twelfth in the 2019 Goodreads Choice Awards - Best Historical Fiction with 3,122 votes.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Sound recording.
- Large print.
Works about this Work
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Auschwitz in Contemporary Popular Literature : Assessment of the Phenomenon
2020
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Memoria , no. 38 2020;'Over the last couple of months, one could observe a real flood of publications about Auschwitz on the book market. However, these are not scientific literature, but literary products, which, given their form and subject matter, ought to be classified as historical novels. [...] The phenomenon became the inspiration for writing this text, the aim of which is not only to review contemporary novels but above all to assess the phenomenon of this peculiar "fashion for Auschwitz literature" on the example of several selected works.'
Source: Introduction.
-
The Fabulist of Auschwitz : Heather Morris's Bestselling Novels and the Problem of Truth in Historical Fiction
2020
single work
essay
— Appears in: The Monthly , February no. 163 2020; (p. 36-44) 'On April 19, 2019, a gleaming, perfect day in Oakland, California, George Kovach and Julia Odegard prepared dinner in their lakeside apartment for an Australian author, Heather Morris, who was visiting that night. She was writing a book about Kovach’s stepmother and father, and, though he hadn’t heard of her before, Kovach had learnt she’d written a book called The Tattooist of Auschwitz, and that it had been immensely successful.' (Introduction) -
Banality Blights
2019
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 2 November 2019; (p. 19)
— Review of Cilka's Journey 2019 single work novel'Heather Morris’s debut novel was a runaway success when it came out in January 2018. The Melbourne-based New Zealand writer wrote The Tattooist of Auschwitz after meeting and befriending the man, Lali Solokov, on whose story the book is based. It’s a love story: Solokov met his wife, Gita Furman, and fell for her, when, as a prisoner-functionary, he tattooed her number on her forearm.' (Introduction)
-
Banality Blights
2019
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 2 November 2019; (p. 19)
— Review of Cilka's Journey 2019 single work novel'Heather Morris’s debut novel was a runaway success when it came out in January 2018. The Melbourne-based New Zealand writer wrote The Tattooist of Auschwitz after meeting and befriending the man, Lali Solokov, on whose story the book is based. It’s a love story: Solokov met his wife, Gita Furman, and fell for her, when, as a prisoner-functionary, he tattooed her number on her forearm.' (Introduction)
-
The Fabulist of Auschwitz : Heather Morris's Bestselling Novels and the Problem of Truth in Historical Fiction
2020
single work
essay
— Appears in: The Monthly , February no. 163 2020; (p. 36-44) 'On April 19, 2019, a gleaming, perfect day in Oakland, California, George Kovach and Julia Odegard prepared dinner in their lakeside apartment for an Australian author, Heather Morris, who was visiting that night. She was writing a book about Kovach’s stepmother and father, and, though he hadn’t heard of her before, Kovach had learnt she’d written a book called The Tattooist of Auschwitz, and that it had been immensely successful.' (Introduction) -
Auschwitz in Contemporary Popular Literature : Assessment of the Phenomenon
2020
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Memoria , no. 38 2020;'Over the last couple of months, one could observe a real flood of publications about Auschwitz on the book market. However, these are not scientific literature, but literary products, which, given their form and subject matter, ought to be classified as historical novels. [...] The phenomenon became the inspiration for writing this text, the aim of which is not only to review contemporary novels but above all to assess the phenomenon of this peculiar "fashion for Auschwitz literature" on the example of several selected works.'
Source: Introduction.
Awards
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Auschwitz-Birkenau,
Occupied Poland (1939-1945),
cPoland,cEastern Europe, Europe,
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Auschwitz-Birkenau,
Occupied Poland (1939-1945),
cPoland,cEastern Europe, Europe,
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Siberia,
cRussia,ccFormer Soviet Union,cEastern Europe, Europe,