'Cilka's Journey' by Heather Morris is an interesting bag. On the one hand, the tale of Cilka (Cecilia) in the Gulag is dramatic, tragic, enrapturing and captures the essence of humanity within prisons that would long destroy any emotion many individuals would feel. The stories of rape are dramatic, the many rescues she undertakes and the many opportunities for freedom that present to her are mind boggling.

However, as a fictional tale that is loosely based on true facts and memories long gone, the book tends to over extend itself with the many stories that feel by the end of the book as repetitive. A good book does not need to fill itself with the unecessary, and I believe that a shorter but just as punchy tale could have been a great hit. Heather's style of writing is not my all-time favourite, but the story kept me engaged up until around the 2/3rd mark. At that point it became a fast reading effort.