THE ENDLESS STEPPE is based on the author's true-life experience. It is one of The Originals from Penguin - iconic, outspoken, first.
Esther Rudomin was ten years old when, in 1941, she and her family were arrested by the Russians for being 'capitalists' and transported to Siberia. The next five years spent were spent in exile where they went barefoot and hungry until the end of the Second World War. Despite the hardships endured, Esther's story radiates optimism and is a beautiful example of the resilience of the human spirit. Readers inspired by The Diary of Anne Frank, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas or The Book Thief will love this book too.
The Originals are the pioneers of fiction for young adults. From political awakening, war and unrequited love to addiction, teenage pregnancy and nuclear holocaust, The Originals confront big issues and articulate difficult truths. The collection includes: The Outsiders - S.E. Hinton, I Capture the Castle - Dodie Smith, Postcards from No Man's Land - Aidan Chambers, After the First Death - Robert Cormier, Dear Nobody - Berlie Doherty, The Endless Steppe - Esther Hautzig, Buddy - Nigel Hinton, Across the Barricades - Joan Lingard, The Twelfth Day of July - Joan Lingard, No Turning Back - Beverley Naidoo, Z for Zachariah - Richard C. O'Brien, The Wave - Morton Rhue, The Red Pony - John Steinbeck, The Pearl - John Steinbeck, Stone Cold - Robert Swindells.
Esther Hautzig was born in Eastern Poland (in what is now Vilnius, Lithuania) in October, 1930. When the region was conquered by Soviet troops in 1941, Esther, her parents and her grandparents were uprooted and exiled to Siberia where they spent the next five years in forced labour camps. The family returned home after the war and in 1947 Esther left to go to the USA as a student. Her acclaimed novel The Endless Steppe was inspired by her gruelling wartime experiences. She was married to a concert pianist and had two children. Esther died in 2009.
