This inspiring and exciting story is based on a true person, Lyudmila Pavlichenko. While the author used artistic license to enhance this sniper's story, she explains which parts are based on true events, and which parts of the story came from her imagination. It was a very engaging read! The author was able to help me empathize with an unlikely type of character, whose nickname "Lady Death" explains where her fame came from. What made a bookish graduate student leave behind her family, studies, and "nerdy " dissertation, to fight alongside men as a sniper? The author makes us understand the motivation for this transformation.
4 out of 5 stars- the inciting plot event made the climax less than surprising. ( )

Love the story; love the narrator!!

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. 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. ( )

Kate Quinn's books are a delight to read. She creates such dynamic characters and spends time with the details, relationships, lives, and moods of each one. You feel like you know them all. That being said, I sometimes feel like a good editor could really tighten up her stories and not lose any of the depth

I liked that this book was based on a true story. The subject matter was interesting and I enjoyed learning about the main character and the Soviet Union and the soldiers. It was well done and I enjoyed it. ( )

This is a novelization of the life of Mila Pavklichenko, a Ukrainian/ Russian sniper in the early part of World War II, before the US had entered the war. Before joining the military, Pavklichenko was a mother, a librarian and a researcher, working on her thesis. But she had also enjoyed shooting in a nearby women’s club so when Russia needed soldiers, she left her young son and abusive husgand behind and volunteered. Although it was not as unusual for a Russian woman to be a soldier as it was in the US, Pavklichenko met with great skepticism until she proved her skill and worked her way up the ranks, eventually commanding a sniper patrol and killing over three hundred Nazis.

This is a dual time line story, alternating her experiences in the war with her later tour through the States to encourage the US to enter the fight and help the Russians fend off Germany. During this tour, she became friends with Eleanor Roosevelt, and in a fictional twist, discovered a plot where Pavklichenko and even FDR himself were threatened.

There were things I liked about this novel including the author's vivid descriptions. I loved that this strong woman’s extraordinary accomplishments were not lost to history.

Eleanor Roosevelt was also a high point of the story for me and definitely gave some lighter relief in what otherwise was a fairly grim story.

Although I understand it would be impossible to tell Pavklichenko’s story without death, the death was overwhelming for me, especially given the war in the Ukraine. Great story, wrong timing for me at least. ( )