I'm a lover of history and I've always been especially drawn to World
War II history. As an American, my knowledge of Russian WWII history is
limited to what I've read in history books and other memoirs and
biographies of the war. I didn't know that there was a regiment of
women pilots who broke through the barriers and gave women a chance to
be equal to men in the fight for their homeland, their families and
their way of life. I picked up this book to see who this White Lily
was. I was pleasantly surprised by the narrative.
Lilia Litvyak was born to Vladimir and Anna, a couple who had
started out as peasant farmers who dreamed of a better life. Through
their hard work and dedication to their country, they were able to give
Lilia a comfortable life. She was stubborn and head-strong from a young
age. She loved the wildflowers her mother would place by her bed every
night and they would continue to be a prominent factor in her life
until the end. She was athletic, intelligent and beautiful. Whenever
anyone underestimated her, she would not only prove them wrong, she
would do it in spectacular fashion.
She was bitten by the flying bug very early in her life and she made
it her dream to become a pilot. She wanted to be a fighter pilot and
then later, she wanted to be the pilot of an aircraft that would bring
people across Russia in peace, for pleasure. She was definitely ahead
of her time! She had the respect of her parents if not their outright
approval and she began working for the local aerodrome when she was just
14 years old. She worked her way from doing clerical work to then
doing the dirtiest work of all, cleaning out the oil pits. She earned
the respect of the owners and was soon trained to be a pilot. She was
so good at what she did that she was then asked to train other young men
to fly.
This was good enough for awhile, but she soon wanted more. She
wanted to be in the air fighting for her Motherland. Stalin finally
gave grudging permission for a women air corps and Lilia was one of the
first pilots. She quickly rose in the ranks and proved herself both
inside and outside of combat. Eventually she was sent to the front to
fight with the best Russian pilots. She quickly earned the respect of
her superiors and to the men of her unit. She shattered the glass
ceiling. The accomplishments that Lilia had in her young life rival
those of many people 4 times her age. It's easy to see why she not only
earned the respect and admiration of an entire Russian nation, but also
the ire of the Nazi regime. They were repeatedly humiliated by a waif
of a girl!!
This was a very well written and engaging book. The characters were
very well written and it was easy to become immersed in Lilia's life.
You laughed with her and cried with and for her. The book goes through
her life from her very humble beginnings and travels through her trials,
tragedies and her valor and heroics. I completely enjoyed reading this
book and it opened a whole new aspect of WWII history for me. I look
forward to learning more about Lilia and the women of the Russian
military and their contributions to save their Motherland. What a
wonderful story about how a woman can still be a woman even when she's
gunning down Nazis! I would recommend this to anyone who is interested
in history, especially those who want to learn more about what roles
women played.
I give this book 4 very enthusiastic stars. The only reason the
book didn't receive 5 stars was because of the way the book was
formatted. It's something I'm seeing more and more with e-books.
Instead of having normal paragraphs with indentations, they're formatted
with the space or double space between the paragraphs. Yes, the whole
book looks like my review! It doesn't really detract from the story at
all, just more of a personal preference to see e-books follow their
print book cousins. I was a little disappointed in the cover for this
book as well. With so many beautiful and amazing pictures and drawings
of Lilia, they instead have chosen to put a young woman with long,
blonde hair on the cover. In doing some searching, it looks like other
editions actually have a drawing of Lilia on the cover. I would have
much preferred to see that cover instead of the one that it has now.
Again, a personal preference. I would still recommend this book to
anyone who is interested in history, WWII and especially those who are
wanting to see the war effort and the work and efforts that women put
forth.
Call Sign, White Lily on Amazon
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