They are people I would be proud to call friends. Their stories are heartwarming and tragic at the same time. The other is her sniper partner, Kostia Shevelov. It was inevitable that Mila would find a male companion in that environment. They lived and fought alongside their male counterparts. Not only were there female snipers, but also fighter and bomber pilots (read NIGHT WITCH by S.J. Both sides were brutal in their confrontations. The Russians welcomed women into the military in their desperate fight against the Nazi invaders. His job, kill the president and frame Mila.

Leaders opposed to the president are paying him. A man known only as The Marksman is watching her. First Lady married to President Franklin Roosevelt. Mila is part of a delegation of Russian academics who have been invited by Eleanor Roosevelt, the U.S. While the first story unfolds in Ukraine from 1937 until 1942, the second takes place in August 1942, first in Washington, D.C. The story has a secondary plot and jumps back and forth in time until the two plots merge. When war breaks out, she is recruited to be a sniper in the Russian Army. She was very good at shooting at paper targets. After repeated humiliations at the hands of her hated husband, Mila decided to take up sharpshooter training. Her son lived with her parents during this early period. The divorce never happened.Īt the beginning of her academic life and career path, Mila studied history at Kyiv State University and worked at the Odessa Public Library as a research assistant. They soon parted ways but he kept avoiding the divorce proceedings. Alexei wanted to become a noted Soviet doctor. Mila was a student and wanted to continue her education and career as a librarian and history researcher.

Not what Alexei wanted by any means as he had a roving eye. Mila’s father threatened Alexei and the two were soon married. Alexei Pavlichenko, ten years her senior, which led to Mila becoming pregnant with her son Slavka. When Mila was just past her 15th birthday, she had a one-night affair with Dr. According to the author, he was actually a member of the NKVD, precursor to the feared intelligence agency the KGB. Her father is described in the novel as having “connections”. I was vaguely aware of her reputation from other books on WW II.

The Russian sniper was Lyudmila Pavlichenko (Mila). Moreover, it is worth every minute spent reading the story. It is 435 pages in hardcover, 448 pages in trade paperback. The latter tells the story, somewhat fictionalized, of a female Russian sniper with 309 confirmed kills of Nazi soldiers who had invaded her homeland, Ukraine. The former deals with Bletchley Park in England, the famous code breaking facility. What they have in common are stories of women who had a positive impact on the outcome of World War II. I have just finished reading my second, THE DIAMOND EYE. A little over a year ago, I read my first KATE QUINN historical novel, THE ROSE CODE.

The diamond eye quinn