Winter Journey
4/5
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About this ebook
A mother's silence, a village with a terrible secret, and an Australian woman who travels to Poland to uncover the truth ... When forensic dentist Halina Shore arrives in Nowa Kalwaria to take part in a war crimes investigation, she finds herself at the centre of a bitter struggle in a community that has been divided by a grim legacy. What she does not realise is that she has also embarked on a confronting personal journey. Inspired by a true incident that took place in Poland in 1941, Diane Armstrong's powerful novel is part mystery, part forensic investigation, and a moving and confronting story of love, loss and sacrifice. 'A deeply moving and inspiring novel' GOOD READING 'A bold adventure of a novel ... Here is a consummate writer at the top of her form. A fine fictional debut from a writer who's already made her mark' CANBERRA tIMES 'Profoundly moving, compelling and superbly written' AUStRALIAN WOMEN'S WEEKLY
Diane Armstrong
Diane Armstrong is a child Holocaust survivor who arrived in Australia from Poland in 1948. An award-winning journalist and bestselling author, she has written seven previous books. Her family memoir Mosaic: A chronicle of five generations, was published in 1998 and was shortlisted for the Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Non-Fiction as well as the National Biography Award. It was published in the United States and Canada, and was selected as one of the year's best memoirs by Amazon.com. In 2001, The Voyage of Their Life: The story of the SS Derna and its passengers, was shortlisted in the New South Wales Premier's Literary Award for Non-Fiction. Her first novel, Winter Journey, was published in 2004 and shortlisted for the 2006 Commonwealth Writers' Prize. It has been published in the US, UK, Poland and Israel. Her second novel, Nocturne, was published in 2008 and won the Society of Women Writers Fiction Award. It was nominated for a major literary award in Poland. Empire Day, a novel set in post-war Sydney, was published in 2011, and The Collaborator, set in Hungary and Israel, was published in Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom in 2019. Dancing With the Enemy, set in Second World War Jersey was published in 2022. Diane has a son and daughter and three granddaughters. She lives in Sydney. Photo credit: Jonathan Armstrong
Read more from Diane Armstrong
Mosaic: A Chronicle of Five Generations Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Collaborator Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Nocturne Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Empire Day Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dancing with the Enemy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
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Reviews for Winter Journey
38 ratings9 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A beautiful story. Loved it!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Halina Shore is a forensic dentist sent to Poland to take part in a war crimes investigation. When she arrives she finds a village divided by the grim legacy - the death of the village's Jewish community. Was it at the hands of the Germans or the Poles? But this is also Polish born Halina's journey as she tries to track down her birth parents and piece together her life story. As she discovers and talks to the few villagers who are able to remember the time she is able to piece together the terrible events of that time. This book is inspired by a true incident that took place in Poland in 1941. A good read
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Although I have been assured that I have read this book ( two years ago), I could not remember one iota of the story line. But apparently I enjoyed as much then as I did listening to it in the dying stages of 2012.
The fact that this story is based on fact only helps highlight the cruelty and inhumanity which has taken place during World War II.
Ms. Armstrong has woven together a marvellous story from facts gathered from historical events. For me one of the most powerful sections was near the end when Helena addressed teenagers about the persecution of the Jewish population in Poland during WW 2.
Deidre Rubenstein reading of this story was excellent and made this book an easy listen. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A mother's silence, a village with a terrible secret, and an Australian woman who travels to Poland to uncover the truth ... A serious book, quite philosophical, how do ordinary people turn into monsters? And how history can haunt the present. A riveting story, although at times I didn't find the main character, Halina Shore, believable.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5What I liked: the exploration of the nature of evil, the importance and place of Truth, the theme of community and racism, identity, and the history in the story.
What I disliked: the extended exposition of Helena's character (more detail than necessary), the abrupt cliff-hanger chapter endings (like a Nancy Drew book), the way both the priest and Helena reacted to discovering their pasts (too much anger and absolute identity crisis, not enough complexity), the sexual encounters (the book is strong enough not to need "romance").
Fortunately the strengths of the book are important enough to outweigh the weaknesses, in my mind. I see this book as a diamond in the rough. Hopefully the author can continue to hone her craft and create a real masterpiece. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I have mix feeling about this book.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A sobering story about the human capacity for cruelty and inhumanity. Forensic dentist Halina Shore returns to the Poland of her birth to investigate a war crime, the burning of a barn full of Jews in German occupied Nowa Kalwari in 1941. At the same time, she learns things she never suspected about her own past. There were a few too many coincidences for me to really buy into the story, in one sense. But it’s a scarily realistic (and perhaps at times even somewhat sympathetic) exploration of the ways in which the townsfolk tried to deal with the legacy of an atrocity that took place in their midst, and the possibility that it might have been perpetrated by their own.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Halina Shore is a forensic dentist who was born in Poland and moved to Australia when she was nine. After the death of her aloof mother, she accepts an invitation to help exhume a mass grave in Poland. One of her motivations is that her mother has died without revealing anything substantial of Halina’s Polish history, and at this stage of her life, she wants to know more. In 1941, the Jews of the town were burned to death in a barn. The town's residents believe the Nazis did it, but rumors persist that it was the Polish people who committed the crime. The investigation is supposed to find out the truth but it only serves to bring out how deep seated the racial and religious history of Nowa Kalwaria has been.
I found this to be a very emotional story. It's based on a true incident and probed some important questions about humanity and religiously-based atrocities committed during WW2. It's an intricately plotted book that reads almost like a suspense novel with Halina trying to piece together the past and what it means for the present. There is both personal and social tragedy and triumph in this narrative that explores the twin faces of goodness and evil. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Fictional account based on a real event that took place in a small town in Poland in 1941 where people of the Jewish faith were locked into a barn and burned to death. The author took a different angle than usual in approaching this story. It is set in the early 2000’s rather than the 1940’s and involves a forensic dentist, who has personal ties to the region, taking part in an excavation of the site of a mass grave from the WWII era.
I had mixed feelings about this book. On the plus side, I liked the idea of examining the past to find out the truth of what happened through forensic science. I found it intriguing that the author brought together an atheist, a priest, and a rabbi, providing the opportunity to reflect on human nature in an insightful manner from various angles. I thought the author did an excellent job of showing the ideology of the various political factions in the town. I am drawn to books like this that explore personal beliefs and values, and how seemingly ordinary people can act in an extraordinarily inhumane ways while others jeopardize their lives to aid strangers. I thought the protagonist’s journey of personal identity was conveyed in a meaningful manner.
On the minus side, after the prologue, it was extremely slow in establishing the storyline. I kept wondering where the book was headed. The main plotline doesn’t gain momentum until about midway through the book. I thought the last half was far superior to the first half and wish the laying of groundwork had been more focused. The few graphic sex scenes seemed somehow out of place in a book about such deep and thought-provoking subject matter.
If you are interested in World War II fiction based around true events, explorations of personal identity, integrity, or good vs. evil in the world, I think it’s a worthwhile reading experience.