Shannon's Library

LET’S GET EXCITED ABOUT THIS BOOK!

Mila Pavlichenko was a history student working on her dissertation when Germany invaded the Soviet Union during WWII. This petite, bookish, young mother joined the army to defend her homeland. She became one of history’s deadliest female snipers. “The Diamond Eye,” is historical fiction at its finest. While based on this woman’s remarkable story, it has enough fictionalized action/adventure in it to keep readers on the edge of their seats! Keep reading below for my full review of this extraordinary story!

Shannon’s Rating — R (For 5 uses of the F word and other language. But the war violence and other content I would give a PG-13 rating.)

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LET’S TALK ABOUT THIS BOOK!

One of my favorite parts of being a reader, especially a reader of historical fiction novels, is when I discover a story about an extraordinary event or person that I’ve never heard of before. This is exactly what happened as I read the “The Diamond Eye,” by Kate Quinn. The whole time I was reading this book I kept wondering why I had never been taught about this woman. I studied history in college and Mila’s story was a lot more interesting than some of the other things I was forced to read and study about!

Mila joined the war effort as a young and studious librarian. By the time the war was over she was a skilled sniper with over 300 kills to her name. She became a propaganda tool for the Soviet Union and spent months touring the United States with her new friend, Eleanor Roosevelt.

As Mila’s kills mounted on the warfront, she earned the nickname, Lady Death. Russian folklore is filled with stories of Baba Yaga, a fearsome witch who lives deep in the woods. She flies around in a cauldron and lives in a house which stands on chicken legs and is surrounded by a fence of bones. Baba Yaga has three faithful horseman servants, which she calls; “my Bright Dawn, my Red Sun and my Dark Midnight.” Dark Midnight is sometimes called Lady Midnight or Lady Death. Hence, Mila’s popular nickname throughout the Soviet Union.

Mila was greatly feared by the German army, so the nickname, Lady Death, suited her well. At one point in the novel, Mila’s partner brought her some chocolate while she was recovering in a military hospital. He told her…

“My mother always said when a woman is upset, give her chocolate and tell her she’s beautiful. In your case, I think I can amend that to give you chocolate and tell you you’re dangerous. You are beautiful, but something tells me you’ll be more comforted by the thought that you’re still dangerous. And that the Hitlerites know it.”

Mila’s story is truly remarkable. I loved learning about it! As always, when I finish reading a historical fiction novel, I immediately want to know what was true and what was fictionalized in the story. I appreciated that the Author’s Note at the end of “The Diamond Eye” did a great job clearing up all of those questions for me. It was interesting to discover that Quinn used Mila’s official memoir for a lot of the scenes in her book.

I will say I thought the story dragged a little bit towards the middle of the novel when Mila was touring the United States and giving her speeches. But the action picked up enough at the end of the book for me to forgive that little bit of slowness.

If you are a fan of historical fiction and want to learn more about an exceptional woman, I highly recommend this novel. Mila Pavlichenko’s story deserves to be remembered. Well done, Kate Quinn, for bringing it to light.