The Diamond Eye

The Diamond Eye is a better book than The Rose Code, which in turn is better than the books that preceded it. If Kate Quinn's writing continues to get so much more enjoyable so quickly, I can't wait for her next book and the next!

The fact that the protagonist's life is taken from factual accounts, and Quinn has applied intuition, imagination and affectionate understanding to reconcile inconsistencies and Stalinist caution in the narrative and produce a credible story with human depth, makes it one of the best pieces of historical fiction I've read. Lyudmila is a truly engaging character and I was sorry to see the book come to an end.

The marksman-in-Washington plot is the only non-historical (although not implausible) element. It adds show more suspense to the story and events provide some insight to the characters of Lyudmila's first, abusive, husband and her partner-sniper/lover. Eleanor Roosevelt is, of course, perfectly herself and perfectly delightful.

Quinn brings in the Markov family from Siberia, offstage, to provide a back story for one character. It's amusing, and interesting to see Nina from The Huntress from another point of view. Cameos of characters from previous books is apparently something to look for in Quinn's books; Eve from The Alice Network had a walk-on part in Huntress.

Bottom line: I wish this book were longer. Much longer. I keep wanting to pick it up and read more! show less

Last year I found it odd timing when Prince Philip died while I was in the middle of reading Quinn’s The Rose Code, in which he appears as a friend of one of the characters. This year, Russia is invading Ukraine and I opened Quinn’s latest novel to discover its protagonist is a Soviet university student in Ukraine, a single mother studying to be an historian, who enlists when Germany invades in 1941.

The Diamond Eye is about Lyudmila Pavlichenko’s time on the frontlines as a sniper, where she earns a reputation as “Lady Death”, and then her subsequent trip to the United States as part of a group of students sent to represent the Soviet Union, where she meets Eleanor Roosevelt.

I really wasn’t sure I wanted to read about a show more sniper -- there are lots of reasons I’m particularly interested in women’s experiences during WWI and WWII but one reason is undoubtedly that their work usually wasn’t about actually killing. But to my surprise, even though Mila describes being a sniper as “having a dark side to her moon”, I thought it was really obvious that the qualities and values which led her to this job are the same ones which make her likeable and relatable: she takes a marksmanship course so she’s prepared to teach her son the skills a father might, and she discovers satisfaction in having something in her life where success is so clearcut; she enlists because she wants to protect her son, and it makes sense to use her skills as a sniper. Ultimately she’s just doing what practically every protagonist in a book about WWII does -- making her contribution towards ending the war.

While I haven’t changed my opinions about shooting as an activity and codebreakers at Bletchley Park remain much more my cup of tea, Mila’s story was still what I’ve come to expect from Quinn. -- engaging, fascinating, beautifully-written, at times tense or heartbreaking but not totally tragic. The cover said “based on a true story” but when I reached the author’s note I was surprised to discover that developments I’d assumed were speculation and artistic licence, because they seemed so Quinn-ish, were actually true. Lyudmila wrote a real memoir and Quinn says it: bears the stamp of Soviet propaganda, but her technical recall of a sniper’s skills, weapons, and routine is exactly where her voice is the most precise and vividly individual. There are inaccuracies in her timeline, but a woman piecing her memories together through the fog of war and the PTSD of multiple battlefield concussions is bound to get a few details wrong. [...] There are also incidents in Lyudmila’s memoir which I have chosen to leave out, like a meeting with Stalin that probably didn’t happen. It has been something of a delicate dance to treat Lyudmila Pavlichenko’s memoir as the concrete original source of its heroine’s memories, yet also a document with which the propaganda office took some liberties. Her memoir contains tantalizing gaps and silences which I’ve filled in with artistic license.

I liked how The Diamond Eye explores the idea of official and unofficial memoirs.

My memoir, the official version: Snipers must be calm in order to succeed.
My memoir, the unofficial version: Snipers must make themselves calm in order to succeed, and that is why women are good at sharpshooting. Because there is not a woman alive who has not learned how to eat rage in order to appear calm. show less

The Diamond Eye is just the sort of historical fiction that I love to read. It's based on a true story about an incredible woman, and not only did I get a feel for the era, how women survived in the military, and what the life of a sniper is like, I fell completely under the spell of Lyudmila (Mila) Pavlichenko.

The story is told mainly by Mila, but we also hear from Eleanor Roosevelt as well as a paid assassin. How author Kate Quinn managed to write a story from these three very different points of view and keep each one of the characters so compelling is a sign of her talent, and it will definitely keep me coming back for more. (Yes, this is the first book of hers that I've read.) I also appreciated her Author's Notes as well as the show more bibliography at the end. The notes showed me how the author blended fact and fiction, and the bibliography will help me find the books I need for further reading.

And Lyudmila Pavlichenko is definitely a person worth reading more about. Strong, determined, smart, yet flawed, she is just the type of person to prove that you should never turn your back on historians or librarians. show less

Inspired by the remarkable story of World War II Russian sniper known as ‘Lady Death’, The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn is a fascinating novel of historical fiction.

On the same day that the Germans invade Russia, Mila Pavlichenko (Lyudmila Mikhailovna), a 24 year old PhD student working at the Odessa public library as a senior research assistant enlists in the army. Goaded into completing an Advanced Markmanship course several years earlier by her husband, from whom she’s been separated for several years, she feels compelled to contribute to the protection of her young son, Slavka, who remains in the care of his grandparents. Sent to the Russian front, Mila quickly proves skilled with a rifle, and over the course of the next year, show more earns the nickname ‘Lady Death’ as a sniper credited with 309 ‘official’ kills of Nazi soldiers.

Unfolding over two timelines, much of the story moves between Mila’s experiences on the frontline, and her time in Washington, 18 months later.

Though The Diamond Eye is a fictionalised account of Mila’s life, in her Author’s Note Quinn explains much of the detail is factual - from Mila’s ‘shotgun’ wedding at age fifteen after being seduced by a much older man, to the friendship she formed with (former) First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt during Mila’s tour of the United States. Drawing from Mila’s official memoir, and other records, Quinn has crafted a rich portrait of the woman that exists beyond the legend of ‘Lady Death’.

I think Quinn ably communicated the chaos and stress of the frontline from Mila’s unique perspective, both as a woman and a sniper. I was engrossed by Mila’s experiences, admiring of her bravery and her commitment to her role, one I could never imagine taking on. There is an extra layer of poignancy too that Quinn did not foresee, given the recent outbreak of war between Russia and Ukraine.

I enjoyed the development of Mila’s relationship with her sniper partner, Kostia, and with the lieutenant, Lyonya, with whom she had an ill-fated romance on the frontlines. Though Quinn has taken some liberties, both men are based on real people, as are most of the characters she encounters, their names taken from historical record, including her comrades in arms, and her fellow Soviet delegates.

It was after Mila’s fourth near-fatal injury, that she was sent to Washington DC, representing the Soviet Union at an international student conference hosted by (former) First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, tasked with convincing the President to provide assistance to Russia. Despite her reluctance to participate, Mila proved to be a capable, if somewhat controversial, advocate (footage of the real Mila speaking with the US press can be seen on YouTube). It’s in this timeline that Quinn strays most notably from history, concocting an assassin who stalks Mila, planning to frame her for the murder of FDR. To be honest I’m not sure it was necessary, though it does add another level of drama and tension, and speaks to the political landscape of the time.

The Diamond Eye is a compelling narrative, enriched by the blending of fact and fiction, and a reminder of the human face of war. show less

Book on CD performed by Saskia Maarleveld
3.5***

Kate Quinn gives us a fictionalized look at a fascinating woman sniper in WW2. Lyudmila “Mila” Pavlichenko was nicknamed “Lady Death” for her work as a Russian sniper, with over 300 killed Nazis to her credit. She was a wife, a mother, a graduate student, and a library researcher. But when Germany invaded, she enlisted in the Army and became a sniper. In the summer of 1942, she served as Russia’s envoy, coming to the United States to help persuade the USA to enter the war on behalf of the Allied Forces. During that visit, she became quite close to Eleanor Roosevelt.

All this is true and gives the novel its framework. But Quinn embellishes and adds some additional plot points for show more the sake of the story. Still, all the war scenes are based on actual history, and on this remarkable woman’s efforts towards winning the war against Hitler’s army.

I was completely caught up in the narrative, although the back and forth timeline, and occasional changes in point of view did irritate me a bit. Still, the story is well told, and it held my attention. I happened to catch a small documentary bit on PBS about Pavlichenko just before my F2F book club meeting. It was only a small segment in a larger program about women in WW2, but it verified, for me, the truth of this story.

Saskia Maarleveld does a fine job of performing the audiobook. She has a real gift for different accents and languages, and that adds verisimilitude to her narration. show less

I never heard of Lyudmila Pavlichenko before reading this book, but holy cow Kate Quinn’s portrayal of her makes the inner girl inside of me yearn to be her.

Mila was a Russian sharpshooter in the war against Germany. Even as a female, she rose to the top of the ranks and led her troop stacking up a huge kill list. Most didn’t believe it and thought she was another Russian propaganda piece.

The men on her squad knew who she was and respected her when women at war weren’t often shown much respect. She was Lady Midnight or Lady Death and the Germans feared her.

Not many books have me crying so hard when I’m only a third into the book. Kate Quinn’s ability to immediately have her characters capture your heart in such short show more fashion, is pure literary genius!

Now I’m going binge read everything Kate Quinn has ever wrote.
All the Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ show less

Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko. Mila. Daughter. Mother. Graduate Student. Library Researcher. Sparked by the words of a man, the father of her son, Mila made a decision to earn a marksmanship certificate and later an advanced marksmanship certificate. A 4th-year university history student, her dream of becoming a historian and enabling her to give her son the life he deserved was within reach. Within reach until it was not. It was the summer of 1941 in Odesa, and war broke out in the Soviet Union with the invasion of Hitler’s troops. Mila had made another promise to herself, and to keep that promise, a promise she’d made to herself, she enlisted in the Red Army, becoming the sniper with the nickname of Lady Death.

Magnificent. show more Historical fiction reading deserving of more than 5 Stars. I did not know the name of Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko before reading this novel, which a friend recommended. Now, I will never forget Mila. An incredible woman.

How does one convey why a reader can love a novel about a sniper? Heart-wrenching war punctuated by heartwarming friendship and love. I loved the format of the storytelling, the seamless transitions of how a young woman came to become a sniper, how a sniper came to Washington D.C., as part of the Soviet delegation for an international student conference beginning an enduring friendship with Eleanor Roosevelt, and how a soldier lived, loved, survived. The meaningful passages that opened various chapters of Mila’s service in the Red Army provided what her memoir, the official version, might say, followed by what she would write in her memoir, the unofficial version.

The Author’s Note shares how research for an earlier novel would be the catalyst to write this book. With impeccable research, an intimate view of history is crafted on the pages with creativity gripping the reader to learn an earlier period of WWII before the United States entered the war and with relevance to the war in Ukraine. Historic Photographs and Further Reading and Entertainment follow at the end of the novel. show less