Winter Journey

By: Diane Armstrong

Narrated by: Deidre Rubenstein

Length: 14 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

Halina Shore is a Polish born forensic dentist living in Australia. When she travels to Poland to take part in the investigation of a war crime, she finds herself at the center of a bitter struggle in a community that has been divided by a grim legacy. As the investigation proceeds, her professional assignment becomes a confronting personal odyssey as the truth about her own past begins to emerge.

Inspired by a true incident that took place in Poland in 1941 but was concealed for 60 years, Diane Armstrong's gripping novel is a detective story that is part mystery, part history, and part forensic investigation. It is also a tale of love, loss, and unimaginable sacrifice.

©2005 Diana Armstrong (P)2005 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd.

Critic reviews

"The best and worst of the human spirit are dredged up in this profoundly moving, compelling, and superbly written story." (Australian Women's Weekly)

Worth it

What a book, it brought on so many emotions within me. I recommend this book if you like history.

Its ok

I like this book. If it is indeed a true story, it is a remarkable story. It is well written and the characters and their circumstances are good.
It is not a mystery like most but the ending took me by suprise.
If there is anything missing, it is something that is missing from most books written about this black period. Soul searching.

Fascinating and thought-provoking

I love when a novel is entertaining and also enlightening. The story was fascinating with some disturbing historical events.

great

this book kelp you wondering where it was going. then it all came together

Didn't want this to end

Very informative story. Lead me to research the area in Poland and learn more about the event. It was an enticing story. I particularly enjoyed the reader.

Moving.

An exceptional story of love, hate, fear, forgiveness and perseverance. Makes me want to visit.

Captivating

Winter Journey is an incredible historical fiction written in a such a way the reader feels they’ve stepped into the story itself. The narrator Deirdre Rubinstein is by far one of the best narrators I have ever listened to and I would not hesitate to listen to all her narrations . I recommend this novel and performance a thousand times over. I will never forget this story.

Wow, is the first explanation I can offer.

By the end of this book, wow is the first thing to come to mind. Even the ending credits grave me pause to reread. I am thankful the author took great pains to research all of the aspects of the grime and heroic stories of the holocaust. As a child you are told about the atrocities in Germany so when you think "holocaust" you usually only think Germany. This novel brings up the shortcomings of our historical knowledge to show that Germany was not the only country the Nazi's cruel grip reached. I am grateful to the author and all of those with whom she collaborated to tell their story. It was better than any history book I have ever read.
Unfortunately due to some of the adult content interwoven into this novel, at this time, as much as I would like to, I can not share it with my children. That is a bit upsetting because our children could benefit from books like this. I only wish there was a PG version of it. This is not to say that the author got carried away but just not for the younger bookworms. My daughter would have loved this book. Maybe in a few years she will get a chance to read it too.

Heartbreakingly poignant story of Poland during WWII

I love reading a book and learning about historical events through others' perspectives. This book, while fiction, is based on actual things that happened in Poland by the Polish Gentiles and Jews. Once neighbors and acquaintances, through political unrest, the neighbors became anti-Semitic. I feel that this sense of bloodlust happened throughout all of Europe in the early 20th century. But their are heroic individuals weaved throughout, as in real life.

Historical Story Marred by Unnecessary Fluff

First off, let me say that the historical parts of Winter Journey were fascinating, horrifying and educated me on one more atrocity of WWII that I never knew existed . . . the killing of several hundred Jewish citizens in Jedwabne, Poland by it's own citizens, NOT the Germans . . . it is a true story (the town renamed for the book) . . . but I was sadly "put off" by the author's continuous need to place Halina in one sexual escapade after another . . . the forensic dentist, Halina, talented and experienced at her craft, would have been at the very least in her fifties, but most probably older . . . and the graphic sex detracted from the story line . . . the forensics, the delving into her past, that's what kept me listening . . . but I felt like it took way too long to get there because I had to wade through too much mud . . .