Under a Blood Red Sky

What do I need to say about Kate Furnivall's THE RED SCARF (2008, aka UNDER A BLOOD RED SKY), a recent find at the local thrift store? "I can't believe I read the whole thing" works for me. Because this story of a young woman who endures years of abuse and starvation in a Siberian gulag in 1933, then manages to escape and find her way a thousand miles across frozen wastes to a tiny village where she finds refuge with a mysterious gypsy and passionate love with a handsome, square-jawed factory director (with perfect white teeth, no less), and acquires sorta super powers by means of a magic white pebble, and discovers a buried treasure she uses to bribe a corrupt official to release her lover from prison where he's been brutally beaten show more and tortured (but he's still incredibly handsome and his perfect teeth only sustained a tiny chip), and together they hitch a ride north on an experimental airplane visiting their village, then use more of the treasure to get horses to journey back to the gulag to rescue her dear friend who is at death's door yet survives the thousand mile trek back to the village where they both find true happiness and, one assumes, live happily ever after. Whew! I mean, WHEW!! Ya know? And yup, I read the whole darn thing. I'm so embarrassed.

The truth is, women probably absolutely LOVED this book. I did NOT. But I did keep turning pages, thinking the whole time, this is so STOOpid, so unbeLEIVable! But I kinda wanted to know what happened next too, so ... What this is is a 468-page Harlequin historical romance with a Hallmark-ish ending. Recommended, but don't say I didn't warn ya, okay?

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER show less

Another long-term TBR.

Taking place in Stalin's Russia, the book is centred round a bond between two women, a bond forged in a gulag in Siberia.

Anna and Sofia are unlikely friends, Anna comes from a privileged background, but in the new Russia she is now an enemy of the people and is sent to a gulag in Siberia. There she meets Sofia, a real survivor who tries to keep Anna safe in such harsh conditions. It's Anna's stories of her past, especially those of her childhood love, Vasily, which give both women hope. Sofia realises that Anna won't last out her sentence, so escapes to get help, no mean feat as you can imagine.

The second part of the book is Sofia's search for Vasily, a search which takes her to a town closely watched by Stalin's show more regime. She is taken in by a gypsy, a man who uses his power to try to keep his town safe from the regime. Sofia must keep her head, while looking for a way to get back to Anna, with Stalin's lackeys on every corner.

Do not read this expecting a historical treatise on Stalin's gulags, rather this book focuses on a bond between two women which is stretched to breaking point under great hardship. I wondered how the plot would stretch to 500 pages, but Furnivall throws in family drama, the hard life in the USSR of the '30s and a bit of magic. Entertaining enough to help break up the gloom of my spring term report writing. show less

The Red Scarf has a delightful premise: two women meet and fall into friendship in a Russian labour camp, suffering side-by-side in true solidarity under some of the harshest conditions ever imposed by human beings on human beings. Anna and Sofia share stories back and forth to help them survive, but slowly, the hard work, the harsh winter, and the lack of food is wearing them down. Sofia realizes Anna won't survive another winter. She escapes and begins on a wild adventure to find Anna's one true love Vasily - and his mother's jewelry - in order to persuade him to help her save Anna from another winter in such harsh conditions.

And then she finds Vasily and falls in love with him herself.

The books started off wonderfully. I loved the show more depiction of the friendship between the two women, the sacrifice and love they shared. I loved Anna and Sofia's stories, their journey through childhood as Russia fell apart around them and the cruel reality they were living through. I even loved the story of Sofia's escape and the story of the village of Tivil. I thought things would get really interesting as she met and fell in love with Anna's Vasily.

But, it started to drag, too many words crammed into not enough story, inflating the page count but not pushing the reader though them. I had no complaint with the writing itself and, in fact, the words were strung together quite well, I thought - not masterfully, but well. There was just too much of it.

And then, everything fell apart because everything ended up too neat. I know that sounds contradictory, but in literature, it's absolutely not. There could have been so much complication and human confusion as the characters faced hard, unfair situations. Literature is not made beautiful by bad things happening and then, suddenly, conveniently unhappening. Literature is made beautiful by bad things happening and characters reacting in ways that are so perfect, or imperfect, or cruel, or sacrificial, or true.

This book will add nothing to your life. There are so many other books to read. Don't bother with this one.

(This review also appeared on This Dusty House on March 8, 2013.) show less

This tale about two friends, Sofia and Anna, imprisoned in a Soviet labor camp turned out much more interesting than I originally thought. While I had enjoyed other books by the author, I was reluctant to read this work because the premise seemed a bit dull. As it turned out, Sofia's escape from an labor camp in Siberia and her efforts to track down Anna's old friend to save her friend from certain death made this novel fast-paced and compelling. The author also provides enough twists and revelations about the central characters to keep the plot interesting.

Synopsis: The story begins in a labour camp with two best friends Sofia and Anna. Anna is very ill, causing Sofia to think of ways to save her - no medicine is available in the camp for prisoners, and that won't keep her alive for long, anyway. This causes Sofia to come up with a plan - a plan of escape. Sofia decides to escape first, as Anna is nowhere near healthy enough to manage the long walk to the nearest village, and she promises to come back with help for Anna. But then Sofia falls in love - with Anna's old lover.
My Opinion: This book kept me interested throughout. I loved the historical backdrop of communist Russia with a fast-moving contemporary plot which kept me hooked.

I am a fan of historical fiction and have never read a book about Soviet Russia. This was a book club choice so I was interested in learning about Russia during Stalin's reign and communism. The facts of the times were chilling, especially parts about everyone watching your every move and informing on you, which could result in death or a sentance to a Gulag, which is where part of this story took place. Incarcerated in a Gulog, two women form a fierce friendship, managing through all odds to help eachother stay alive. Yet Anna becomes very sick, and Sophia is convinced that she must escape and find Anna's long lost love ( 15 years lost) convince him to return with her to the Gulog and free Anna. That's possible isn't it? That is only show more the first of the many things that the author asks us to believe to make this story credible. There are many, many more. I am usually willing to accept some incredulity in the interest of a good story, but here even I had to stop and say, really? really? This historical fiction was light on the history and heavy on the fiction/romance/fantasy. A woman who has spent long years in a gulog, overworked, starved, frozen and then tramps on foot across Russia after escaping is not "beautiful" or "luminous" no matter who she is. Nor is one who is so ill she is coughing up blood and on the verge of dying. There were major inconsistencies. So much was to hard to believe, and when you are reading a book of almost five hundred pages, you WANT to believe! The only reason I finished it was becouse it was for book club. Though the history was interesting, the story left much to be desired. show less

From http://booknerds.net

I am going to be completely honest, I bought this book because it was on sale. Although, I had seen it a few times and it looked interesting, I don’t read non-fantasy books very often, so I wasn’t sure it would be worth it to spend $15 on something there was a good chance I wouldn’t like. I am SO glad that I did get it though!

The Red Scarf is one of those books that are so full of emotion, you end up feeling everything that it’s characters do. Sofia is a character that is easy to like, and one you’d think you’d get along with had she been real. She’s also easy to feel sorry for, even if she’s the one that isn’t exactly doing the right thing. Sofia’s story is heart-wrenching, but even more show more than hers, is Anna. Throughout the book once Sofia escapes, however, we don’t just learn about her, we also start learning a lot more about Anna. Every other chapter describes what Anna is going through in the labor camp, her faith in Sofia as well as her doubt in Sofia, and if she even made it out of the camp alive.

However, this is where the only flaw comes in The Red Scarf, Anna is boring. Granted there’s not much that she can be doing in a labor camp, but while we learn about Sofia’s personality, and about her mission and adventure, Anna ends up – for the most part – wasting away at the camp. Which teaches a lot about the horror that people faced in the labor camps, but in this kind of setting, and book, doesn’t do much for the story. The only other thing that was a little bit odd was the magic, or.. wishful thinking? I’m not sure exactly what it was to be honest, but it doesn’t hinder or ruin the story.

It’s an absolutely beautiful story, with a great lineup of characters, and a great plot. Anna was a tad bit boring, but that is honestly the ONLY downfall of this book, and really you can’t blame her. show less