Blog Tour: The Winter Warriors – Olivier Norek, translated by Nick Caistor

November, 1939. A conscription officer arrives in the peaceful farming village of Rautjärvi. The Soviet Union has invaded, and for the first time in its history as an independent country, Finland is at war.

Setting off into the depths of winter to face the Red Army, the small group of childhood friends recruited from Rautjärvi have no idea whether any of them will ever return home. But their unit has a secret weapon: the young sniper Simo Häyhä, whose lethal skill in the snow-bound forests of the front line will earn him the nickname “The White Death”.

Drawing on the real-life figures and battles of the Finnish-Soviet Winter War, this is a gripping, page-turning historical thriller from one of Europe’s most acclaimed storytellers.

After 18 years in the French police force, Olivier Norek turned to crime writing. Between Two Worlds was the Times and Sunday Times Crime Novel of the Year 2024.

While researching for this novel, Norek spent three months (the duration of the war itself) in Finland, experiencing the -35°C conditions in which the war was fought and in which more than 130,000 Russian soldiers died before the Soviet Union signed a peace treaty in March 1940.

My thoughts: Despite studying Russian history, I had never heard about the Winter War which Russia started in order to claim territory in their former holding – Finland. Compared to the Soviet Union, Finland was (and is) a tiny country. But it is also it seems, an incredibly brave one.

The young conscripts who head off into the winter snow to fight the Russians and the Lottas who accompany them (nurses, camp cooks etc, all female, named after a young woman who followed her man into war and despite his death, stayed to take care of the other men) have no idea what they will face and what might happen to them.

This was an incredibly fascinating, gripping read, it read like a thriller but one based on real people and events. There were a few moments that I felt like I might cry, I gasped out loud, I was horrified and enthralled all at the same time. It might be one of my books of the year – it is genuinely that good.

I don’t really know what else to say – get hold of a copy and learn about a period in history that seems to have been forgotten about, everywhere except presumably in Finland as some of the people in this book are national heroes there. Honestly, just incredible stuff.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.