Book Club: The Red Scarf by Kate Furnivall

Hello, one and all. If you’ve asked me for book recommendations at any point in time, I guarantee that The Red Scarf by Kate Furnivall has been on the list. I’m a HUGE fan of historical fiction, and Kate Furnivall is one of the best in intertwining history with fiction. Period.

Also, this is a great book for those who don’t really like to read. Chapters are short, and the author keeps the story moving without boring you to death with details.

So what’s the book about? Glad you asked…

The Red Scarf is a story of survival and hope. It’s 1933 in Siberia. We find Sofia and Anna, two young women barely hanging on at Davinsky Labor Camp. It’s cold; they’re hungry and worked to the bone. The only thing keeping Sofia from drowning in despair are Ana’s colorful stories of her charmed childhood in Petrograd and her young love for her childhood friend, Vasily.

Despite her can-do spirit, Ana is slowly dying, and Sofia decides that she must escape labor camp, find Vasily, and come back for Anna to save her life.

After careful planning, Sofia escapes, and after months of isolation and hardship, she finally finds the small town where she believes Vasily resides. There she is nursed backed to health by a Gipsy family. It is also there where she finds Mikhail Pashin, a man who she’s falling in love with and who she believes is Vasily.

Does she betray her friend, or does she set out to rescue her? Read the book to find out.

If it doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, check out The Song of Achilles or With the Old Breed.