The Diamond Eye

Eleanor Roosevelt watches her husband prepare for the day. He is lost in thought, and she suspects he is contemplating a time when he was young and healthy in the snowy winters of New York State. She leaves, wondering what circumstances have created his need for refuge.

Mila’s narration remarks that while her public memoir makes little mention of Alexei, the reality was different, to her chagrin—he turned up often during her war years. Back in the 1940s narrative, she encounters him on the ship to Sevastopol, “large as life and three times as unpleasant” (121). He seems untouched by any trauma, and he still sees the war as an opportunity for personal advancement. He also refuses to believe Mila is a combat soldier and sniper. He tries to make her leap for the binoculars she holds, but she swings them into the sea with her rifle. He calls her a “joke,” and she responds that “one hundred and eighty-seven dead enemies know that [she’s] no joke” (123).

Mila arrives in Sevastopol, Crimea’s major port city, with no news of her regimental comrades. She meets General Petrov, who directs her toward Yalta. He suggests she take a pistol so that she can die by suicide rather than risk capture. She meets her new captain, Dromin, who wants to reject her new orders to command a platoon due to her gender. To her surprise, the man from the steam bath is there and speaks up for her: He is Lieutenant Lyonya Kitsenko, the regimental commander. Mila is afraid that her casual flirtation earlier may affect her future career, as she hears someone speculate that she is the general’s lover.

Mila reunites with Kostia and Fyodor, the only survivors from Odessa, in the army’s dugouts in the woods. Lyonya is also there and introduces himself to Mila. She is disconcerted by his resemblance to her former husband, including sharing the name Alexei. To her surprise, Lyonya and Kostia are dear friends from years before. When Lyonya uses her nickname, she fears that he may assume romantic interest or sexual availability based on their first meeting at the banya. To protect herself, Mila reminds Lyonya they have not fought together and he has not earned familiarity. He accepts this, pointing out that combat opportunities are plentiful.

Getting men to accept her authority is difficult and tedious work, despite the staid account eventually given in Mila’s official memoir. During a stakeout, she and Kostia meet a local tracker, Vartanov, who is eager to help them scout the local terrain. Mila is at first concerned he may be secretly in league with the Germans, as some Ukrainians saw them as preferable to Stalin’s regime. Vartanov is investigated and then helps them plot routes to the local German headquarters. He seems skeptical that Mila does not identify as Ukrainian, while Mila is reluctant to include him in enemy engagements as he is a civilian. He explains his desperation for revenge: His family home is now the German regimental headquarters, and his wife and children were murdered. Mila agrees to let him learn how to use a spare rifle.

With Vartanov’s help, Mila and her platoon successfully attack the German headquarters, ending the threat and procuring food from enemy stores. Lyonya joins them for a campfire feast. Mila looks at the identity documents of the German officer she killed, struck by his family photos. Kostia reminds her that the German officer’s children may be blameless, but the Russians are defending their home. As the evening gives way to performances, Mila realizes Kostia is singing in English, and he explains to her that his American grandmother came to Russia before the 1917 Revolution. His family conceals their past to avoid political persecution. Kostia ponders meeting his American family someday, but Mila can no longer imagine a future, certain that she will die in combat.

Mila argues with Captain Dromin that Vartanov should be allowed to serve with her men. During the conversation, she is still camouflaged from a recent attack and resembles an “ambulatory bush” (150). After Lyonya argues for Vartanov, Dromin concedes, but he orders Mila to attend a regimental ceremony the next day. As Mila and Lyonya leave, Lyonya flirts with her and offers her a ride to the event. She thanks him for his help with Dromin, reflecting privately that Vartanov’s politics may be suspect but he is eager to fight. She tells Lyonya that she does not flirt with senior officers and that he shares a name and rank with her former husband. He explains that he is known as Lyonya because his mother wanted to name him Leonid and that he only desires “exceedingly lovely hedges” (153).

At the award ceremony, Mila is impressed with Lyonya’s speech and his easy way with fellow soldiers. Mila spots Alexei in the crowd but hides from him. Lyonya finds her and is surprised to see her smoking a pipe, a gift from Vartanov. She asks why he flirts with her, wondering if he, like others, is curious about her sex life because she is a sniper. Lyonya explains that he expected her to be tough and taciturn. He is horrified when she points out that most men in the army threaten women for rejecting their advances. They continue to talk, and she explains that she enlisted for Slavka and his future but does not answer his questions about her past or Alexei. As they go back to camp together, Lyonya teases her that he is still willing to wait for a kiss.

The scene opens in battle, with Mila fighting to neutralize a group of German soldiers with machine guns. She succeeds but is soon struck by a shell. She wakes covered in blood and unable to move. Lyonya steals a car to drive her to the hospital, while Lena staunches her wounds. Lyonya insists on giving blood to save Mila’s life. Mila is stunned to hear Alexei’s voice before she loses consciousness.

She wakes in the hospital, where Alexei claims that he saved her life. He is clearly jealous of Lyonya and tries to flirt before Lena interrupts him. Lena also brings a note from Kostia, indicating he and most of the others survived. Mila finds herself haunted by the idea she will die soon, as her many wounds are proof she is vulnerable. Lyonya tells her not to give in to superstition, and he brings her chocolate for comfort. She realizes that “with Kitsenko [she] could be afraid. Be tired. Be human,” and so she tells him to “call [her] Mila” (173).