Well this was an uncomfortable read. Not because I expected buttercups and daisies.. but oh my goodness!

Obviously it is about the gulags but it is far more. It is about leaders of a country being out of control and losing all sense of humanity. It is truly a terrifying book. Despite that it is an important book that I am glad I read, despite giving me nightmares of epic proportions.

Although it is about the gulags it is equally about repression and imprisonment of the innocent. The sheer scale of this treatment of citizens by their own government is beyond comprehension.

There is the famous quote:

‘The line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being’.

It isn’t a happy read but sometimes we need jolting out of complacency and this book made me happy to get back to pride and prejudice