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391 pages : maps Summary: When the German ship the Wilhelm Gustloff was sunk in port in early 1945 it had over 9000 civilian refugees, including children, on board. Nearly all were drowned. Ruta Sepetys imagines the story of a handful of these people as they trek across Germany, bound together only by their desperation to reach the ship that can take them away from the war-ravaged land. From the gentle wisdom of the old man known as the Shoe Poet to the bravery of Emilia, the Polish girl who struggles onwards hiding a dark secret inside herself, this is a band of unforgettable characters and unmissable stories