By Ande Jacobson
The Diamond Eye is Kate Quinn’s largely biographical novel chronicling the story of Lyudmila Pavlichenko, a woman who made a huge contribution to defeating Hitler’s assault on her homeland during WWII. Pavlichenko was a Ukrainian born Russian woman who became a deadly sniper in the Red Army in the early days of the war. Her story shows that while there’s a certain amount of luck in surviving the horrific conditions she endured, her skills and determination were invaluable in her efforts. While Quinn is famous for writing historical fiction, weaving gripping stories surrounding historic times or events, this novel is drawn more directly from an original source than most. Her primary reference for the novel was Pavlichenko’s autobiography, Lady Death: The Memoirs of Stalin’s Sniper. She used an English translation by David Foreman as a central part of her research beyond various official records to which she had access. As such, almost all of the characters are from real life in this story, although one major character is a composite of two real men. Quinn also used a bit of poetic license with respect to Pavlichenko’s autobiography, at times reordering some events to create a more cohesive storyline and filling in some gaps in the timeline. It’s likely that some of the events in the source material were themselves smoothed and brightened given the work was approved by the Soviet Union and thus was potentially at least partially propaganda. On the other hand, the official record of various events is clear and independently verifies much of the material.
Two fascinating details that are verifiable are the fact that Pavlichenko was indeed a deadly sniper with hundreds of kills, and that she developed a surprisingly close friendship with Eleanor Roosevelt during a conference and subsequent goodwill tour the Soviet delegation attended in 1942 to plead with the U.S. for aid in their fight against Hitler’s forces. Although Pavlichenko didn’t wish to make the trip, she was ordered to do so by her superiors, a brilliant move in hindsight. Her meeting and friendship with the First Lady was instrumental in convincing FDR to directly support the eastern front which helped to defeat the Axis forces in Europe. While it’s sometimes hard to remember given the political landscape in the 21st Century, the Soviets were a critical U.S. ally without which WWII probably would have ended very differently. That alliance didn’t last very long after the war, but the friendship between Lyudmila Pavlichenko and Eleanor Roosevelt endured. They even got to meet in person again in 1957 during a time of high tension between the U.S. and Soviet Union when Roosevelt came on a goodwill tour of her own.
Quinn shows a bit of the history of Ukraine in the story as well. It comes through that while Pavlichenko considered herself Russian largely due to her father’s loyalties and position in the party despite her being born in Ukraine, the fighting was in Ukraine, and the relationship between Ukraine and Russia was not an easy one with a long, bloody history in itself. Then as now, Ukraine was key to world stability. Quinn states in her author’s notes that had she realized that the current conflict in Ukraine would become so important internationally, she would have included more on the history between Ukraine and Russia. The book was released in March 2022. The latest Russian invasion in Ukraine occurred shortly before that book release, but after it was written.
How Lyudmila Pavlichenko became a deadly sniper was embellished a bit in the story. In real life, she had been a history student like in the novel, but unlike the novel, she was also a shooting enthusiast who had become an expert marksman through sport before enlisting. She had a commanding presence and also a sense of humor despite the harrowing circumstances of her rise to fame.
The novel traces the real story with some subtle changes. The biggest departure from reality is the introduction of an assassin as part of a plot against FDR who also targets Pavlichenko throughout her U.S. tour. There was no assassination plot during her tour in reality, but it adds greatly to the story making it even more of a page turner than it would already be if left truer to the historical record. It also folds in a piece of history that seemed so bizarre to Quinn that this gave her a slick way to include it in the story, an unlikely and unrequited suitor who shows up in an unexpected way. In addition, the assassin plot line serves to highlight Pavlichenko’s training and acumen in a way that a simple demonstration wouldn’t. It also furthers a later personal story that foreshadows her life upon her return home.
By folding much of Pavlichenko’s first hand account of the war into the story, Quinn gives readers a fascinating look at what it was like in the early days of the fight. While Pavlichenko was the first, she wasn’t the only female sniper, though her road wasn’t an easy one. While women served in the Red Army, even in combat, they still faced a significant amount of discrimination and objectification by their male superiors. Pavlichenko made some enemies of a few of her superiors along the way by refusing their advances, something that delayed proper recognition of her contributions despite her direct superiors putting her in for commendation. They eventually came, though she wasn’t interested in fame or decorations. In her mind, she was doing her job helping defend her homeland against vicious invaders. She had a close bond with and the respect of the men she led. She was wounded multiple times during the conflict, but she survived beating the odds for a sniper in battle. The death toll for the Russians was extremely high despite the eventual outcome of the war. They desperately needed help from the U.S. and allied troops which didn’t come quickly. Once it did, then the tide turned, and we all know how the war ended.
Quinn takes the story through to the late 1950s showing that Pavlichenko realized the life she sought after the war, first training more snipers, then eventually retiring from the military to become the historian she’d always wanted to be.
And why is the book called The Diamond Eye? Multiple reasons become clear in the story.
References:
The Diamond Eye, by Kate Quinn
Lady Death: The Memoirs of Stalin’s Sniper, by Lyudmila Pavlichenko
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