The Diary of Lena Mukhina
Lena Mukhina
Translated by Amanda Darragh Love
12 February 2015Synopsis
A harrowing true account of a teenage girl's struggle to survive the Siege of Leningrad during World War II.
In May 1941, Lena Mukhina was an ordinary teenage girl living in Leningrad, worrying about homework and her crush, Vova. Like a good Soviet schoolgirl, she diligently learned German, the language of Russia's Nazi ally, and kept a diary of her hopes and dreams. Then, on 22 June 1941, Hitler broke his pact with Stalin and declared war on the Soviet Union.
All too soon, Leningrad was besieged, and life became a living hell. Lena and her family fought to stay alive as their city starved, with citizens dying in their hundreds of thousands. From day to dreadful day, Lena records her experiences in The Diary of Lena Mukhina: the desperate hunt for food, the bitter cold of the Russian winter, and the cruel deaths of those she loved.
This vivid first-hand testimony of a courageous young woman's struggle to simply survive is a truly remarkable account of one of the most terrible eras in modern history.
Details
12 February 2015
9781447269908Reviews
Sixteen-year-old Lena Mukhina's diary is to the Siege of Leningrad what Anne Frank's was to Nazi-occupied Amsterdam ... A must read for young adults and their parents everywhere.Rachel Holmes, author of Eleanor Marx: A Life
Even at the height of the Leningrad Siege, starving and surrounded by death and destruction, Lena Mukhina somehow continued to keep a diary. Her story, though searing, is an inspiration.Robert Service, author of Stalin: A Biography
The Anne Frank of Leningrad ... Almost unbearably moving ... Her suffering is real and terrible. As we read on, we can feel something important sapping out of her. Call it spirit, if you like, or the optimism of youth. But adversity does not strengthen her; it corrodes her. She gets away, but the best of her, we suspect, she has left behind.Marcus Berkmann, Mail on Sunday
Lena's diary, sustained by emotional stamina and driven by daily drama, describes one of the worst civilian horrors of modern wartime.Iain Finlayson, The Times
