Are Lyuba and Günter star-crossed lovers? When they first meet in 1933 Soviet Russia, their young love is filled with hope and naiveté until Günter disappears. Her fleeting relationship with him has devastating consequences, forcing her to take a humiliating way out to save herself and her family. This choice unleashes a sequence of fatal events that shatter her life, affecting everyone involved.… involved.
In June 1941, World War II comes to Russian soil, hurling Lyuba, along with millions of others, into the inhuman grinder, testing the limits of her strength and resilience of her heart. Will it be strong enough years later to allow her to reveal the ugly secret she has buried from the only person the war has left for her to love?
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“How Dare the Birds Sing” is a beautiful, well-written novel that captures the story of life in the Soviet Union before and during WWII. The author begins the story with seventeen-year old Lyuba – a smart, but innocent young girl, falling in love with a German pilot. I was quickly invested in Lyuba, and was moved to turn the pages and continue along with her story; heartbreaking or not – I wanted to be there with her as the story took its many twists and turns.
As the book continued into the War and tragedy struck, I was intrigued by Lyuba’s strength and resilience as a woman, alone and in frightening situations. I love that this novel captures the power that women have and the amazing will to survive when all hope seems lost.
Even with the loss and immense pain that surrounded Lyuba and her story, she carried on with an open heart. During her journey, she meets many people who help her and become an important part of the story. I appreciated how the author developed the characters and brought them to life. The story felt true and honest, and the historical details well-researched.
What I loved most was that the author’s writing was truly captivating. I wasn’t just reading the pages – I was seeing Lyuba and the world around her as the author painted the picture in words. I found myself staying up late into the night unable to put the book down.
This book is a treasure, and I highly recommend it for those who enjoy WWII historical fiction and would like to read about a unique perspective from the Soviet Union.
Author Marina Osipova has crafted a beautiful, heart wrenching story that is highly recommended for World War Two readers and those interested in history of the Soviet Union. This is not a book for the faint of heart and the main character, Lyuba, suffers tragedy after tragedy to the point the reader begins to wonder if she’ll ever get ahead. That being said, How Dare The Birds Sing is a story about human resiliency and that, no matter what life throws at someone, they can pull through. This was hard a story to read but needed to be told. Ms. Osipova is a wonderfully talented author and I look forward to her future works.
This book was entered in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards. This is what our readers thought:
Title: How Dare The Birds Sing
Author: Marina Osipova
Star Rating: 5 Stars
Number of Readers: 25
Stats
Editing: 10/10
Writing Style: 10/10
Content: 10/10
Cover: 10/10
Of the 25 readers:
25 would read another book by this author.
25 thought the cover was good or excellent.
25 felt it was easy to follow.
25 would recommend this story to another reader to try.
Of all the readers, 15 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘plotting a story’.
Of all the readers, 10 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘developing the characters’.
25 felt the pacing was good or excellent.
25 thought the author understood the readership and what they wanted.
Readers’ Comments
‘A superbly plotted love story and a harrowing portrayal of war. This novel is vividly written and packed full of the most unforgettable characters.’ Male reader, aged 50
‘This novel very much shows the strength of people during war and what they must do to survive. The love story is heartbreaking but there is an element of hope running through it. Anybody looking for well-written and well-researched military fiction need look no further.’ Male reader, aged 63
‘With a clever and very apt title and a strong cover, this is a gem of a book. Anybody interested in WW2 will find this intriguing. Anybody who enjoys fully fleshed-out characters will find this intriguing. Packed full of danger and, sadly, misery too, this is not for the ‘easily upset’. Or, possible, it is!’ Female reader, aged 39
‘A thoroughly enjoyable, albeit, sad story of WW2 and how ‘ordinary’ people survived it. Lyuba is the most interesting character who is often tested to the limits in a world at war. There are elements of romance and love lost, but the gritty setting is what brings this novel alive.’ Female reader, aged 60
To Sum It Up:
‘Dark, gritty and thoroughly gripping, this is a gem of a book. A SILVER MEDAL WINNER and highly recommended.’ The Wishing Shelf Book Awards
Beautiful, emotional, heart-wrenching, and I can go on. Osipova is an important voice for historical fiction revealing the Russian side of war history. Far from the clichés of Hollywood’s interpretations of Russia in WW2, “How Dare the Birds Sing” will give you an authentic and in-depth look at a culture that tends to baffle westerners.
This is the first book I have read by Osipova and it will not be my last. I have her two other titles already open and look forward to diving into them. Besides, from what I know, she’s in the middle of writing the next book to this series, which promises to be a treat. These were characters that stayed with me for days between my reading sessions and will most likely linger so that, when she’s prepared to release the sequel, it will be like meeting old friends.
If you are a fan of historical fiction, you will definitely be drawn irresistibly into this most incredible story by Marina Osipova. “How Dare the Birds Sing,” is an inspiring tale which begins in Lipetsk, a two-century-old provincial Russian town in 1933 and covers the historical period of pre-World War II Russia, World War II and beyond.
History of the era is presented in a way that shows great attention to detail while telling the story of a heroine, a young Russian woman named Lyuba as she lives through first love, love lost, tragedy, and resistance to oppression in a world torn asunder by the turmoil of war.
The author takes you on a unforgettable journey that will keep your interest throughout the book. A story so poetically expressed that it pulls you in from the moment you start to read and grabs your emotions until you read the very last word.
I highly recommend this book.
How Dare the Birds Sing – indeed, how dare they? The extent to which man can be cruel to his fellow man never ceases to amaze me, as does the distance people will go to survive in the face of unspeakable cruelty. As a teenager, Lyuba and her best friend Natasha meet two student pilots. Stepan is Russian while Günter is German, studying in the Soviet school. It’s 1933 and Germany and the Soviet Union are on good terms, after all. Long story short, Günter has to return to Germany and everyone who has known him is under a cloud of potential espionage. Stepan, by then a Hero of the Soviet Union, has a privileged status. Turning his back on Natasha, he forces Lyuba into marriage, in significant part to protect Lyuba and her mother.
Then Germany and the Soviet Union have a falling-out and war comes. Lyuba, her mother and adopted daughter are on their way to join Stepan when the Germans attack. Lyuba is spared by a fluke. From there, the war takes charge of her life. Brief instances of happiness punctuate major periods of horrible danger, misery and even virtual torture.
Still the birds sing.
When the war finally ends and Lyuba is free to return home, her first objective is to find Natasha. Suffice it to say that Natasha’s war wasn’t Lyuba’s, and when Lyuba leaves the town where Natasha had lived, she sets out with Natasha’s daughter. Arriving in her home town, she finds her home still untouched and with several years’ accumulation of mail. Stepan’s letters are a cruel punctuation to her own journey, but she has the little girl, who finally calls Lyuba ‘Mama.’
Fifteen years later … you’ll have to read it to find out what happens then and has happened in the interim. It’s a compelling read, although it’s emotionally difficult. A fabulous book, overall.
How Dare the Birds Sing, by Marina Osipova, is a compelling story and historical fiction. Set in pre-WWII Russia, Lyuba, a young and impressionable Russian girl, falls in love with a German pilot. Bonds are created between them which seem inseparable until war strikes and Germany invades Russia under Hitler’s rule. The story that ensues takes the reader through war-torn Russia, as Lyuba’s innocent life is suddenly turned upside down and she finds herself fighting the invaders, and eventually, caught in the web of NAZI dominance. Will the love between her and a German pilot, now turned enemy to the state, endure? Will her innocence be transformed by the brutality and pervasive death and destruction all around her? The closer one gets to the end of the book, the faster one flips the pages to find out what will happen. Recommended to both historical ficton lovers and romance lovers.