Ruta Sepetys

Ruta Sepetys was born to Lithuanian immigrants—her father fled Lithuania during its occupation in World War II. From a young age, Sepetys was steeped in stories of her heritage, which sparked an early interest in history and storytelling. After attending Hillsdale College in Michigan, where she graduated with a degree in International Finance, Sepetys embarked on a career in music, managing rock bands. Sepetys later transitioned to writing, eventually publishing her debut novel, Between Shades of Gray, in 2011. The novel explores the Soviet deportation of a Lithuanian girl and her family to Siberia and was inspired by Sepetys’s family’s history. It received widespread acclaim for its historical accuracy. The novel saw commercial and critical success, and it has been translated into over 30 languages. Her subsequent novels, including Out of the Easy (2013) and Salt to the Sea (2016), cemented her reputation as a major name in historical fiction and young adult fiction. More recently, Sepetys released The Fountains of Silence in 2019, a book about Francoist Spain, and I Will Betray You, her 2022 book about the Romanian Revolution.