The Red Scarf by Kate Furnivall, 470 pages

"Davinsky Labor Camp, Siberia, 1933: They've worked her like a slave - and almost starved her to death. Only two things in this wretched place keep Sofia alive: the prospect of one day walking free again, and the stories told by her friend Anna of a charmed childhood in Petrograd filled with parties and pearls - and of her fervent young love for a passionate revolutionary, Vasily.

After a perilous escape, Sofia endures months of hardship, with the echo of her footsteps her only companion. But, clinging to a promise she made to Anna, she sets out to track down Vasily. In a remote village, where she's nursed to health by a Gypsy family, she finds more than refuge - she also finds Mikhail Pashin, who, she is certain, is Vasily in disguise. She cannot stop herself from falling in love with him - but be belongs to Anna.

After coming this far, Sofia is tantalizingly close to freedom, family - even a future. All that stands in her way is the secret past that could endanger everything she has come to hold dear..." -Back Cover

I really, really liked this book but there has to be a "but" attached to my review of it which I'll get to in a minute. First, the things I loved. This is a beautiful story of friendship and loyalty. Sofia and Anna save each other in a place where most people have given in to darkness and despair. The things they do and sacrifice for each other are unbelievable. I loved Sofia's fiery spirit and Anna's gentleness. While they are in the labor camp together you are reminded of just how strong the human spirit and will to live can be.

This is also a great love story and not just Anna and Vasily's - but I won't give anything else away! The characters' lives and pasts entertwine in unexpected and interesting ways. Everyone in this book at some point has to make difficult choices and put at risk the things they love most to fight for what they believe in. The descriptions of life in Stalin's Russia are both heartbreaking and infuriating at the same time.

Now for the "but" - This book was a bookstore discovery so I hadn't read any reviews or heard anything about it other than what was on the back cover. There is language in this book and a lot of it is the F word. I struggle with books that have language but a beautiful story because even though I skip over the swear words I know that I am justifying. I am much too forgiving when it comes to books. There is also a "bedroom scene" on pages 350-351. It's just such a shame because without these I would recommend this book without reservation.