Module 4 – Book Review 1
Review of Ruta Sepetys’s SALT TO THE SEA
*This review was written for a course through Sam Houston State University.
1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sepetys, Ruta (2017). SALT TO THE SEA. Philomel Books. ISBN: 978-0142423622
2. PLOT SUMMARY
Salt to the Sea is a historical fiction novel set in early 1945 near the end of World War II. The story follows four young people from different places and walks of life. The first is Joana who is a nurse from Lithuania. The next is Emilia who is a pregnant teenager from Poland. Then there is Florian who is an artist from Prussia. Finally, there is Alfred, a German soldier. Each of these refugees are trying to escape the Soviet army and find safety while dealing with their own traumas. All four characters have experienced terrible things during the war and carry secrets with them as they try to get on a ship called the Wilhelm Gustloff. Each of them believe it will take them to safety and freedom. The novel is based on a true and tragic event. The Wilhelm Gustloff actually sank in the Baltic Sea in 1945, killing over 9,400 people, which makes it the deadliest ship disaster in history, even though most people don't know about it. Through the four characters' different perspectives and their personal stories, the book shows what it means to survive and how people find strength during impossible times. It highlights the hard choices people must make during war. The novel honors the real people who died on Wilhelm Gustloff by telling their stories and making sure this forgotten tragedy is remembered.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
In Salt to the Sea, Ruta Sepetys tells the story of the Wilhelm Gustloff disaster using the perspective of four different characters. Since readers know from the beginning that the ship will sink, each character's hopeful journey toward it becomes increasingly tragic. This creates a sense of doom that makes the emotional impact more powerful. Sepetys uses symbolism, specifically the sea and salt, to represent both escape and death as well as safety and danger in order to explore themes of memory and how history can be forgotten. Sepetys develops her characters through their internal struggles and psychological depth. This shows how war damages people's spirits and forces them to make seemingly impossible moral choices. The novel's strength comes from contrasting moments of human hope and connection with the harsh reality of fate and destruction. All of this creates intense emotional tension throughout the story. Sepetys's characters aren't just good or bad, but that they can be brave and even a coward. This demonstrates the moral complexity of war. The fragmented narrative structure mirrors how refugees lose their sense of identity and become part of a larger tragedy. All of these literary techniques are used as a way to honor the real victims of this forgotten disaster.
4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Booklist starred (December 1, 2015 (Vol. 112, No. 7))
Shipwrecks and maritime disasters are of fathomless fascination, with ships such as the Titanic and the Lusitania household names. It’s interesting that the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff during WWII, which led to the largest loss of life on a single ship in history, goes largely unremarked upon—at least in America. Sepetys has resurrected the story through the eyes of four young characters trying to reach safety as the Russian army advances: Joana, a Lithuanian nurse; Emilia, a pregnant Polish 15-year-old; Florian, a Prussian artist carrying dangerous cargo; and Alfred, a German naval soldier stationed on the Wilhelm Gustloff. Each has been touched by war and is haunted by the past, and, determined to get on a boat in any way possible, hurtling unknowingly toward disaster.
Horn Book Guide starred (Fall 2016)
The stories of four young adults converge in this illumination of a little-known WWII tragedy. As Russian soldiers push Nazi forces back, Eastern European refugees flee toward the hope of evacuation by sea on the Wilhelm Gustloff, a vessel destined to sink. This elegiac tale succeeds with impressive research, affecting characters, and keen insights into humans' counterposed tendencies toward evil and nobility.
Horn Book Magazine (January/February, 2016)
The stories of four young adults -- each haunted by a secret -- converge in this heartbreaking illumination of a little-known WWII tragedy. As Russian soldiers push Nazi forces back to the Baltic Sea, thousands of refugees from the occupied Eastern European countries -- including Prussian defector Florian; Emilia, fifteen and pregnant, from Poland; and Joana, a young Lithuanian woman valued for her medical skills -- flee toward the slim hope of evacuation by sea. Despite a few jarring flaws -- in particular, a blind girl whom the author gifts with impossibly heightened other senses -- this elegiac tale succeeds with impressive research, affecting characters, and keen, often unsettling insights into humans' counterposed tendencies toward evil and nobility.
Kirkus Reviews (November 15, 2015)
January 1945: as Russians advance through East Prussia, four teens' lives converge in hopes of escape. Returning to the successful formula of her highly lauded debut, Between Shades of Gray (2011), Sepetys combines research (described in extensive backmatter) with well-crafted fiction to bring to life another little-known story: the sinking (from Soviet torpedoes) of the German ship Wilhelm Gustloff. Told in four alternating voices--Lithuanian nurse Joana, Polish Emilia, Prussian forger Florian, and German soldier Alfred--with often contemporary cadences, this stints on neither history nor fiction.
Library Journal (December 1, 2015)
January 1945. The war in Europe is in its end stages as German forces are beaten back by the Allied armies. To escape the Soviet advance on the eastern front, thousands of refugees flee to the Polish coast. Told alternately from the perspective of each of the main characters, the novel also highlights the struggle and sacrifices that ordinary people-children-were forced to make. At once beautiful and heart-wrenching, this title will remind readers that there are far more casualties of war than are recorded in history books.
School Library Journal (December 1, 2016)
In East Prussia at the end of World War II, a group of refugees are desperately making their way toward the one chance they have at survival: passage aboard the Wilhelm Gustloff. Braving the unforgiving elements, violent soldiers, and an uncertain future, Joana, Emilia, and Florian narrate their harrowing journey, along with unsettling chapters from Alfred, a Nazi sailor. Sepetys brings to vivid life the events and repercussions of this little-known piece of 20th-century history.
5. CONNECTIONS
Related Books – Other books about survival, refugees, WWII, and maritime disasters
Sepetys, Ruta. BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY: 978-0399255151
Lowry, Lois. NUMBER THE STARS: 978-0547345444
Rylant, Cynthia. I HAD SEEN CASTLES: 978-0152053123
Activities and Extensions
Have students research the Wilhelm Gustloff disaster
Find primary sources, survivor accounts, and historical information about the sinking
Create a timeline of events leading up to and following the tragedy
Ask students to explore the symbolism of the sea and journey
Discuss what water and the sea represent in the novel
Create artwork or poetry inspired by the journey and the ship
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