Cilka's Journey, Heather Morris

I loved The Tattooist of Auschwitz, the character Cilka in the story was riveting and I greatly anticipated Cilka’s Journey. That being said, I find that sequels, even ones that are not necessarily typical, such as this one, often fall flat compared to the first in the series. Cilka’s Journey would fall into that category.

The book was very good, very well-written, about a subject I can never get enough of; WW2, and more specifically, life in and around the encampments of that time - such as Cilka’s Journey.

Cilka spent three years in Auschwitz (true story) where she met the tattooist written about in that book. She then was committed to a Siberian prison for fifteen years for war crimes ‘she’ committed as a prisoner in Auschwitz - the girl was raped by the leaders of the camp for her entire term and because she survived, it was misconstrued that she aided the Nazis.

Cilka’s Journey was written from conversations had with the tattooist, his recollections of the stories, and those told to the author by others in the camps with Cilka, others who were her neighbors before and after her time in Russia. While I have no reason not to believe everything written, it felt a bit contrived, perhaps showing Cilka as too good, too innocent, too something - perhaps not intense enough given the multiple years, over a dozen, spent imprisoned.

Perhaps if I would have read this book first it would have felt more genuine. I still give this a 5-star rating as it was wonderful, beautifully written, and deserves to be read. You will enjoy it and not regret the time spent learning about Cilka’s Journey.