Listen free for 30 days

1 credit a month, good for any title to download and keep.
The Plus Catalogue—listen all you want to thousands of Audible Originals, podcasts, and audiobooks.
$14.95 a month plus applicable taxes after 30 day trial. Cancel anytime.
Cilka's Journey cover art

Cilka's Journey

Written by: Heather Morris
Narrated by: Louise Brealey
Try for $0.00

$14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $35.08

Buy Now for $35.08

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Tax where applicable.

Publisher's Summary

"Louise Brealey is an excellent reader who gives Cilka a thoughtful, sympathetic voice." (Jersey's Best)

This program includes a bonus conversation with the author. 

From the author of the multi-million copy bestseller The Tattooist of Auschwitz comes a new novel based on an incredible true story of love and resilience. 

Her beauty saved her - and condemned her.

Cilka is just 16-years-old when she is taken to Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp in 1942, where the commandant immediately notices how beautiful she is. Forcibly separated from the other women prisoners, Cilka learns quickly that power, even unwillingly taken, equals survival. When the war is over and the camp is liberated, freedom is not granted to Cilka: She is charged as a collaborator for sleeping with the enemy and sent to a Siberian prison camp. But did she really have a choice? And where do the lines of morality lie for Cilka, who was send to Auschwitz when she was still a child? 

In Siberia, Cilka faces challenges both new and horribly familiar, including the unwanted attention of the guards. But when she meets a kind female doctor, Cilka is taken under her wing and begins to tend to the ill in the camp, struggling to care for them under brutal conditions. 

Confronting death and terror daily, Cilka discovers a strength she never knew she had. And when she begins to tentatively form bonds and relationships in this harsh, new reality, Cilka finds that despite everything that has happened to her, there is room in her heart for love. 

From child to woman, from woman to healer, Cilka's journey illuminates the resilience of the human spirit - and the will we have to survive.

©2019 Heather Morris (P)2019 Macmillan Audio

What listeners say about Cilka's Journey

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    335
  • 4 Stars
    55
  • 3 Stars
    8
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    292
  • 4 Stars
    45
  • 3 Stars
    12
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    290
  • 4 Stars
    48
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

How could one person possibly endure all that Cilka did?

From her happy childhood, to the horrors of the death camps, only to be punished further, while others got their freedom. Thank you for this story of survival. I really enjoyed the author speaking at the end, sharing why she came to write this book, and how she gathered her information.....

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Eye opening

Very well written and told in a very believable way. Should be used in middle and high schools as a book to read after reading and discussing The Tatooist.

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Captivating

I couldn’t stop listening to this book. It was heartbreaking and compelling. Heather Morris is a masterful story teller.

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

excellent!

loved it! it made me cry on several occasions. it was a good story based on as many facts the author could gather. it was well read by the narrator.

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good but…

It is good but doesn’t make you feel the emotions as deep of the tattooist story. Probably hard to condense 10yrs of emotion into 1 book.

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Unforgettable

Cilka’s story is overwhelmingly heartbreaking. The writing was fantastic, the narrator perfect. Everyone should listen to this book to learn of the history and truth.

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The inhumanity of man!

To hear of an individual's hope, humanity and endurance in the centre of what horrors the monsters of hell could imagine to inflict on others makes it easier to comprehend what millions have endured. If comprehension is remotely possible to the human.

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A captivating read!

I loved this book. Another brilliantly written novel by Heather Morris. This is a must read if you have read her Tattooist of Auschwitz. I enjoyed the narrators voice as well. well done to all!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great book

It was a great read. So important that we never forget the lives lost and the will to live of the survivors.

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic book!

Heartbreaking / stories of tremendous courage & resilience / never take freedom for granted or forget those who fought for it!

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Amazon Customer
  • Amazon Customer
  • 2019-10-08

YOU MUST LISTEN TO THIS BOOK

I have listened to many Audible books. This one took my breath away. I have not left a review before, but thought that anyone who read the Tatooist of Auschwitz must read this. Kudos to the author and to the narrator.

47 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Cathy Dionne
  • Cathy Dionne
  • 2019-10-07

awesome stuff

such a sad story of human cruelty.
but the will to live and end up being able to love another. the fact that this is a true story of events that really happened is mind boggling.

22 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Laura
  • Laura
  • 2019-10-17

Spellbinding

I loved this book. The narrator's voice was mesmerizing and it was easy to fall right into the story, having just read The Tattooist of Auschwitz. Stay till the very end on this one. There's an interview with Heather and it was delightful to hear her story in her own voice. I just want to sit and listen to her for hours.

20 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Amazon Customer
  • Amazon Customer
  • 2019-10-19

Great from beginning to end!

When I don’t want a book to end, I know it is a great book! Cilka’s Journey is one of those books!

13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Jennifer fell
  • Jennifer fell
  • 2019-10-17

Ready to listen again

What an incredible journey this book will take you on. So incredibly well written with characters you will love and characters you will despise. The heart wrenching emotions I felt the whole time left me feeling drained, humbled, and oddly satisfied. The life this brave woman was forced to lead reminds how incredibly lucky we are to live freely today. Cilka’s unwavering determination and care for others makes me wish I could have known her in this life. A brave soul. A hero.

12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Amazon Customer
  • Amazon Customer
  • 2019-10-06

Remarkable story!!!!

After reading The Tattooist of Auschwitz I couldn’t wait to “read” Cilka’s Journey. This story had big shoes to fill and succeeded.
I only wished we learned even more about her life after her prison term.
I hope Heather Morris continues to find fascinating stories about truly heroic people.
I want more from this author!!!!

11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Dori B Pearce
  • Dori B Pearce
  • 2019-10-18

History

Interesting time in history. I knew very little of the Russian Gulag. If you like historical fiction this a good choice

10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Ann E. Stevning-Roe
  • Ann E. Stevning-Roe
  • 2019-11-26

Narration inconsistent with the story

the book was well written and researched. the narrator's use of a Cockney type accent detracted from the story and was annoying.

8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for J. Molnar
  • J. Molnar
  • 2020-02-02

Better read

The story was fascinating and the writing excellent but I definitely would have preferred to read it. I felt at times the narrators voice tedious and at other times over dramatic. I would definitely encourage reading it.


6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Maria Johnstone
  • Maria Johnstone
  • 2019-10-06

A must read touching & horrifying at the same time

This is truly a inspiring story of horrible truths. The courage shown is incredible. Wow

4 people found this helpful