Winter into Summer: Lapland Diary 1945–1946 by Naomi Jackson Groves (review)

610 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW thefocalpointof hermemoir isherownpersonal experience of betrayalherown suffering inaparanoid police state and thebetrayal ofrevolutionary ideals.While the readerwill havedifficultyputting this rivetingaccount down, there arequestions one wishes toraise. Because she presents herstory autobiographically, Rosenberg writeswith present-day knowledgeaboutthe period she lived through, anditcolours withhindsight herunderstanding of theStalinist period; she often writes asif she knew thenwhat became widely understood onlyinthe•95osandlater.Whilehermemory for places, names, anddetails isprecise, Rosenberg recreates conversations asif theywereverbatimfromatranscript rather thanimaginative reconstructions ofinterchanges takingplace overfortyyears ago.We alsolearnlittleaboutSoviet society in general, since Rosenberg's personal contacts werewithmembers of theintelligentsia ratherthanotherlayers of Sovietsociety. The value ofA Soviet Odyssey, however, cannot bedenied;it conveys inrich detailthepainfulexperiences of onewomanandherfamilyandfriends,and her own survivalunder brutal circumstances. Rosenbergprovidesastute details not onlyof whatit meantto be a prisonerin Stalin's strict-rdgime camps, but alsoof whatit waslike to be a womanin thesecircumstances fromherdescriptions of mothers' fearsfor theirchildrento herportraitof Olga,whoregularlydid exercises andcreatedmake-shiftcosmetics from ash andchalked prison walls. Thisbookoughttoremindhistorians oftheimportantcontribution autobiography canmaketo historical study. LINDA KEALEY Memorial University ofNewfoundland Winter intoSummer: Lapland Diary•945- •946.NAOMI JACKSON GROVES. Waterloo :Penumbra Press •989. Pp. •8o, illus.$•4.95 NaomiJackson Groves's Laplanddiaryfrom the years•945-6 guidesthe readerintimately andrealistically througha little-known episode in FinnishCanadian co-operation. Muchattention has beengiventothegruesome battle scenes of Finnish LaplandduringtheSecond WorldWar, highlighting the machinery of destruction of the SovietUnionand, later,the burningand pillaging of theretreating Germanarmy. Thisdiaryisnotaboutwar,but peace; notaboutdestruction, but rebuilding ; not aboutwounding, but healing.It captures oneyearof the lifeof NaomiJackson Groves, 'slender andsmallish ... [but]toughandstrongasa whalebone,' a pacifist whofeltcompelled togivehertimeandspiritandto sharehertalents withthepeople of thedevastated regions of northernEurope . Her compassion led thisAnglicanCanadianto a Quaker mission in Lapland, Finland. Thereshewaspart of a benefitoperation thatultimately provided clothing andnourishment toover23,ooo children andthushelped themsurvive thefirstwinterof rebuilding. REVIEWS 611 Thebookisnota typical reprinted diary.Groves, whohadjustreceived herPhDin art history, wroteasif shewerepainting. Her entries arelong, humane,and capturing.They are interspersed with sections from letters, official reports,and,at times,someaddedcommentary. The diaries arean editedselection, one suspects, because of their voluminous nature,but this does not detractfrom their honesty, intimacy,andvision.Sincethereaderis exposed in suchtantalizing detailtoonebriefepisode in theauthor's life,it wouldhavebeenrewardingto includeaswella biographical sketch of her earlier and later life. Visually thebookcanbebothrewarding andfrustrating. It includes arich selection of historically and anthropologically significant photographs that clearly wouldhavemeritedmoreimaginative layout,space, andtechnical attention. Someof thephotographs aresoseverely reduced anddarkthat theyobscure thesubject. In contrast, Groves's oilsketches areatoncestunning andmystifying. She has captured thestarkcontrasts andthesoftcontours ofLapland, using aweinspiring colours anddepicting itstenacious nature anditsreawakening from theruinsof war.Her paintings area testament to humanspirit,toresilience, andtothepowerof healing. Theyportraytheartist's innertranquillity, her pacifism, hercommitment tonature, herrespect ofhumanity, andherrapturewiththemystery of thearcticregion. Winter intoSummer offersa freshinterpretation of war-tornFinlandwhile giving thereader anopportunity toshare thepacifist world view ofaremarkable Canadian artist. VARPU LINDSTROM YorkUniversity Ideology and Class Conflict inJamaica: The Politics ofRebellion. ABIGAIL B.BAKAN, Montreal andKingston: McGill-Queen's University Press •99o.Pp.viii,•84. $34.95 Thisbookmakes a significant contribution toJamaican history bydealing withthree well-known eventsin a noveland intriguingmanner.Abigail Bakan isnotinterested inretelling thestory ofthe•83• slave rebellion, the Morant Bay uprising of•865,ortheriots oft938.Herobjective istodemonstrate thatthereisanunderlying thread linking thethreeevents together, even though thethirdtookplace over acentury afterthefirst. Bakan clearly shows thatsimilar ideological themes surfaced inallthree rebellions. In each case, therebels used biblical teaching tojustify thestruggle fbrindividual freedoms andsocial justice; they showed acurious belief inthe paternal benevolence oftheBritish crown; and they linked their demands for better working conditions with afirmdesire toown their own separate plots of land.The author stresses the moderationof the blacksin eachcaseand ...