Just Send Me Word: A True Story of Love and Survival in the Gulag

From Orlando Figes, international bestselling author of A People's Tragedy, Just Send Me Word is the moving true story of two young Russians whose love survived Stalin's Gulag.

A Story of Love and Survival

Lev and Svetlana, kept apart for fourteen years by the Second World War and the Gulag, stayed true to each other and exchanged thousands of secret letters as Lev battled to survive in Stalin's camps. Using this remarkable cache of smuggled correspondence, Orlando Figes tells the tale of two incredible people who, swept along in the very worst of times, kept their devotion alive.

Exclusive Access to Unparalleled Historical Records

• Orlando Figes was granted exclusive access to the thousands of letters between Lev and Svetlana that form the foundation of Just Send Me Word.
• These real-time and largely uncensored letters make up the largest cache of Gulag letters ever found.
• Figes also had the opportunity to interview the couple in person, then in their nineties, adding a deeply personal dimension to this extraordinary story.

This is a tale of resilience, love, and the human spirit, brought to life through the voices of two people who endured unimaginable challenges yet never gave up on each other.