About the book:
Maria Sutton's memoir, The Night Sky is the culmination of her forty-three year search for her father. Without knowing the spelling of her father's name, or his date and place of birth, Maria was able to find him - proving that with unwavering determination, anything is possible.
My first thoughts after finishing: "This was a powerful and moving journey...well done!"
I like to read a memoir that speaks to me on some level and after perusing the information Maria sent me and doing a bit of research of my own, confirmed that this was one I had to read. I picked it up right after I finished The Lost Wife, which was a book that wounded me to the soul. I thought it fitting that I would read more about the affects of WWII on people who survived the war but now found themselves labeled as a Displaced Person. Maria's mother is really a strong woman and I know that throughout the book she greatly downplayed and even tried to distance herself from her experience. She was put into horrible conditions and had to make crucial and heart wrenching decisions that would impact not only herself, but her two young daughters. I was amazed at the tenacity and perseverance that Maria exhibited as she began her forty-year long quest to find the answers to questions and to get a family history that could slightly resemble her own husband's. I enjoyed reading about the methods that Maria used to find her information and couldn't believe the amount of red tape and just plain old waiting that she experienced.
I am always amazed at how little I truly know about this time period and once again loved how I learned new facts about the war. I had never heard of the massacre in the Katyn Forest of Poland. I learned more about Stalin's rule reading this book than I ever did from high school history class. I loved learning about Poland and the Ukraine and WWII from Maria's mother's perspective.
My emotional moment while reading this book was the story of Maria's Uncle Wasyl. I was thrilled that about the outcome of her search for him, yet at the same time it quite literally broke my heart.
I highly recommend this book to those that enjoy memoirs and moving family stories. Maria has taken a snapshot of the life of displaced persons and shown us their trials and within that story she has also found her identity.
Author: Maria Sutton
Source: review copy courtesy of author
Genre: Memoir
Pages: 226
Published: 2011 Johnson Books
Disclaimer:Thank you to Maria Sutton for sending me a review copy. I was not compensated for my review. My thoughts on this book were in no way influenced by the author or publicist.They are my personal reflections based solely on MYexperience while reading this novel.
Review Book #2
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