Salt to the Sea – Ruta Sepetys

This was one of my teenage daughters holiday reads, I read it after strong recommendations from both her and my teenage son! It’s a fantastic read, it took me a couple of chapters to get into it but both of them assured me it was worth it and they were right! It follows four young people in Germany in 1945 as refugees flock to the coast in advance of a Soviet invasion. These four characters are all from different counties and backgrounds but each hunted by war. Their lives overlap as they make their way towards the boat they hope will take them to freedom, the Wilhelm Gustloff. Sadly the sinking of this ship is one of the lesser known tragedies of world war II resulting in the death of thousands of civilians. I loved this book, it opened my eyes to a side of the war I knew relatively little about but was also a compelling read with well written characters and storylines. I love when a book makes you want to go and find out more about something and this was definitely one of those books. A great read for teenagers and adults alike.