I initially read this because people were shouting this book from the roof tops, and I get it. Already a huge fan of WWII novels, I let this book pull me into the start of the war between Germany and Russia. Right along with Tatiana Metanova, I fell in love with a red army soldier named Alexander Belov. The kind of love these two shared was so easily and deeply felt by this reader. Their struggles were my struggles. I starved, hurt, ached, bled, just as they did. I finished this book with a piece of Tatiana and her beloved Shura melded to my soul.