Salt to the Sea

Salt to the Sea

Author	Ruta Sepetys
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	Historical Fiction
Publisher	Penguin Books
Publication date	2016
Media type	Print
Pages	391
ISBN	9780141347400

Salt to the Sea is a 2016 historical fiction young adult novel by Ruta Sepetys (book cover illustration and design by Matt Jones). It tells the story of four individuals in World War II who make their way to the ill-fated MV Wilhelm Gustloff. The story also touches on the disappearance of the Amber Room, a world-famous, ornately decorated chamber stolen by the Nazis that has never been recovered.

Sepetys was awarded the 2017 Carnegie Medal, the UK's most prestigious children's book award, for Salt to the Sea.^[1]

Background

Sepetys wanted to write about an element of World War II that had been forgotten. She writes in her Author's Note for the novel that even though the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff is the deadliest maritime disaster in history, "remarkably, most people have never heard of it." She continues writing: "Every nation has hidden history, countless stories preserved only by those who experienced them. Stories of war are often read and discussed worldwide by readers whose nations stood on opposite sides during battle. History divided us, but through reading we can be united in story, study, and remembrance. Books join us together as a global reading community, but more important, a global human community striving to learn from the past."^[2]

Sepetys is the daughter of a Lithuanian refugee. She told the Chicago Tribune ^[3] that after she wrote Between Shades of Gray, which was inspired by the history of Lithuania, that her father's cousin told her she should write the story of the "Wilhelm Gustloff." She goes on to say, "And I was fascinated by the story, wondering why it is that some parts of history penetrate our collective consciousness, and others remain hidden?"

She also told the Tribune^[4] that she wanted to write the story from the refugees' point of view. She says, "The concept of "refugee" is something frightening, it's something foreign. So I wanted to write from that point of view, which is why I have four alternating main characters, all young people from different nations, seeing life from four different cultural lenses on this refugee trek."

Reception

M.T. Anderson of The New York Times praised Sepetys' writing. In reviewing the book, Anderson wrote, "once again, Ruta Sepetys acts as champion of the interstitial people so often ignored — whole populations lost in the cracks of history."^[5]

The judges who awarded Sepetys the Carnegie Medal for this book noted "the powerful, crafted language, the tight, carefully shaped plot and the range of moods evoked throughout".^[1]

The book was honored as a finalist of the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award in 2017.

Characters

• Joana Vilkas: The cousin of Lina Vilkas, the main protagonist in Ruta Sepetys' debut novel, Between Shades of Gray (2011).^[6] Joana is a 21-year old woman fleeing from her native country Lithuania, who had repatriated to Nazi Germany with her family in 1941 to escape capture from the Soviet Russian forces. She develops a romantic relationship with Florian Beck, whom she calls "the Prussian". She is a crossover character from another book by Sepetys.
• Florian Beck: A young Prussian art restoration apprentice carrying a valuable amber swan that he stole from the Amber Room, after discovering that he is a puppet of Erich Koch's. He develops a romantic relationship with Joana.
• Emilia Stożek: A 15-year-old Polish girl from Lwów who was raped by Russian soldiers not far from Nemmersdorf. She is caught in an illusion that a boy named August, a member of the family she was working for, was the source of her pregnancy. She planned on finding him after the war. She gives birth to a daughter, Halinka, whom she saves and hands over to Florian during the sinking before dying and being washed up in Bornholm, Denmark.
• Alfred Frick: An eager, delusional young German who adheres to Adolf Hitler's propaganda (he quotes Mein Kampf) and thinks highly of himself. His thought processes and secrets are revealed via letters he mentally composes to Hannelore, a Jewish girl back in his hometown. He dies after a struggle with Emilia.

Film Adaptation

On May 25th, 2017, Variety reported that Universal Pictures was developing Salt to the Sea into a film.^[7] Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber have been tapped to adapt the novel into a screenplay. Their credits include (500) Days of Summer (2009 film), The Fault in Our Stars (2014 film), Our Souls At Night (2017 film), and The Disaster Artist (2017 film).

Recognition

References