Journey Through a Dark Forest, Vol. III: This Wood, So Harsh, Dismal, and Wild: Lyuba and Ivan in the Age of Anxiety

While the whole world is in the throes of one of the most concentrated periods of Sturm und Drang in recent memory, the Konevs and their friends far and wide struggle to survive and make their way back to some semblance of a peaceful, ordinary world.

In Part III, This Wood, So Harsh, Dismal, and Wild, Darya and Oliivia’s year of studying abroad at a Parisian lycée is indefinitely extended when the Nazis invade and occupy France. Fedya and Osyenka are chomping at the bit for America to join the war so they can get into uniform to save them. When war finally comes to America, Fedya, Vasya, Osyenka, and Leontiy enlist as soon as possible, and in Canada, Yuriy becomes an Army medic. But winning the war isn’t a quick or easy proposition, and there’s no guarantee they’ll find Darya and Oliivia, particularly after word reaches their families that they were taken away by the Nazis in November 1942.

While many other young men join the Army and Navy, Patya and Rodya join the Marines. Patya is a natural Marine, whereas Rodya is more scared in battle and depends upon Patya to protect him. Rodya is desperate to prove himself as a brave, manly Marine who doesn’t need his best friend to watch his back all the time, and that moment finally, unexpectedly comes during the Battle of Saipan. But Rodya still isn’t satisfied with his Purple Heart and protecting Patya, and sneaks back into combat for the Battle of Tinian. Patya meanwhile is faced with the lifelong reality of the million-dollar wound which earned him his own Purple Heart.

As the young servicemen struggle to stay alive in each battle, Darya, Oliivia, and their new friends struggle to survive as Nazi slaves. A seeming miracle happens when they’re transported to a farm and chosen as indoor laborers, but all good things must come to an end, and they’re evacuated deep into Germany before being sent on a three-week death march to Mauthausen. Only the hope of being rescued and seeing her family again, and her determination to protect Oliivia, keeps Darya alive. Even if the war ends in victory for the Allies, Darya and Oliivia will still have to contend with the war inside their minds, and a world they no longer remember how to live in.