Life - an unmatched boot. Book 2. Against the backdrop of stars and fear

The second part of Tamara Petkevich's memoirs "Life - an unmatched boot" was released under the title "Against the backdrop of stars and fear" and continued the first book. The narrative covers the years after liberation from the camp. Everything that remained unspoken: unwritten destinies, unfinished portraits, broken threads of human relationships, received their completion. The longed-for freedom, which was dreamed of in the camp barrack, returned the right to a normal existence and became the beginning of a new life, but did not free from the horrific ghosts of the past or from the pain of not being able to reclaim what was forever taken away by captivity. The book was published in 2008, fifteen years after the publication of the first part, and has undergone several reprints, was translated into German. Based on the book, a performance was staged in St. Petersburg, and Tamara Petkevich became the laureate of several literary awards: "Steep Staircase", "Petropolis", and the Gogol Prize. After reading the book, Tatyana Gerdt said: "I am a very happy person, the Lord has sent me wonderful people all the time. But I had two profound shocks in my life: Tvardovsky and Tamara Petkevich. This is not camp literature. This is Russian literature. This is what gives the strength to live."