Author: Kate Quinn
Started: May 10, 2022
Finished: May 15, 2022
All Lyudmila Pavilichenko, also known as Mila, ever wanted to do was to become a historian and raise her young son to be a good man. Then, one day all of that changed when Russia was drawn into World War II when Hitler invaded her homeland. She runs to enlist to ensure the safety not only of her country but also of her family.
Mila quickly becomes "Lady Death", a female sniper who masses kill after kill as she takes out Nazis to ensure victory for her homeland. She is given a troop of snipers to train and together they help defeat large snatches of Nazis. Over time, the government begins to see how important to their propaganda mission Mila could be and they begin using her to show how strong their military is. The government decides to send her along with a host of others on a trip to Washington D.C. Even on foreign soil, Mila is hunted by those who want to make an example of her and finally take out "Lady Death".
Kate Quinn for me is an auto-buy because I know that I will find myself lost in it. This book was no different. I found myself drawn into the Russian battlefields as Mila set up her next target and as she prepared to meet President Roosevelt. Thanks to Quinn and the ways she writes her story I now know more about the roles women played in World War II and how quickly they were removed from the narrative to ensure that other stories were more widely told.