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4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
Anya is our narrator in this very descriptive story taking place in Russia in the eighties. (And normally I can get “bored” by too many descriptors but I fully went with it in this book).
It is mostly a story about friendship between two girls who grow up together, and their love for each other is special and intense but in the way of exploring who they are and the curiosity that drives that desire.
I really enjoyed it and they were so authentic and real and sincere and discouraged and defeated and fierce and flawed and there was a sense of contentment while a strong desire to dream and hope for a different life - beyond the Iron Curtain.
There is an author’s note at the end of the book that lets the reader know how personal it is and how her own life inspired this piece of historical fiction.
The way Anya realises that Milka is not gaining weight despite a very healthy appetite due to her family life (lack of emotional support) is really profound and so important to point out, I think
It is mostly a story about friendship between two girls who grow up together, and their love for each other is special and intense but in the way of exploring who they are and the curiosity that drives that desire.
I really enjoyed it and they were so authentic and real and sincere and discouraged and defeated and fierce and flawed and there was a sense of contentment while a strong desire to dream and hope for a different life - beyond the Iron Curtain.
There is an author’s note at the end of the book that lets the reader know how personal it is and how her own life inspired this piece of historical fiction.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
This was not just written to write something or to win some award, like a lot of lit fic published today. This was written from a place of pain and trauma. While it is fiction, it reads like a memoir and feels informed by lived experiences. Though slow, it was very deliberate and intentional. You could feel the author’s struggle with love and hate for her home and her effort to come to terms with her difficult past through writing. This was no small feat, having been beautifully and thoughtfully written in a language that is not her mother tongue. She also very clearly and nakedly set the reader in the time and place of 1980’s Russia, both in a physical and sensory way, but also in the emotional headspace of the characters living through the complicated and often devastating political situation in Russia. While this felt a bit overwritten at times, overall I loved the writing and found so many unique and startling gems of wisdom tucked in this story.
Interesting debut novel, I loved the description of the time and place. It is not an easy read but at the end I loved it!
My thanks to Netgalley and Random House for an advance copy of this book.
My thanks to Netgalley and Random House for an advance copy of this book.
The Orchard by Kristina Gorcheva-Newberry
This story would be depressing at any time but more so right now. Anya and Milka are coming of age in 1980s USSR. Anya, who lives in a tiny apartment with her parents and her maternal grandmother, has grown up on the stories her grandmother tells of barely surviving starvation during the blockade of Leningrad. Anya's four year old uncle did starve to death and Anya's grandmother had to do the unthinkable to save Anya's three year old sister. Anya's parents tell of the hardships of surviving WWII. But what is there to look forward to now? Anya's parents work very long hours and now are being made to work even longer hours, while what meager supplies that they have been able to get are shrinking. Anya has this same future to look forward to, a drab gray existence where the goal is to find a man who works and brings home what little money he makes. Whether he beats her or their children does not matter, having a man is what matters, having babies is what she is supposed to do.
The afterword is an important part of the story, for me. The author lived through this time in the USSR, heard the stories first hand, knows what she escaped and what was really happening then and now. This was not an enjoyable read and this book was especially hard to read against the background of current world events. It seems some things never change or else they just get worse.
Pub Mar 15, 2022
Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for this ARC.
This story would be depressing at any time but more so right now. Anya and Milka are coming of age in 1980s USSR. Anya, who lives in a tiny apartment with her parents and her maternal grandmother, has grown up on the stories her grandmother tells of barely surviving starvation during the blockade of Leningrad. Anya's four year old uncle did starve to death and Anya's grandmother had to do the unthinkable to save Anya's three year old sister. Anya's parents tell of the hardships of surviving WWII. But what is there to look forward to now? Anya's parents work very long hours and now are being made to work even longer hours, while what meager supplies that they have been able to get are shrinking. Anya has this same future to look forward to, a drab gray existence where the goal is to find a man who works and brings home what little money he makes. Whether he beats her or their children does not matter, having a man is what matters, having babies is what she is supposed to do.
The afterword is an important part of the story, for me. The author lived through this time in the USSR, heard the stories first hand, knows what she escaped and what was really happening then and now. This was not an enjoyable read and this book was especially hard to read against the background of current world events. It seems some things never change or else they just get worse.
Pub Mar 15, 2022
Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for this ARC.
4⭐ - this book was a little slow (might also be bc im in a reading slump) but it got so good after. so many things happening towards the end of the USSR. defo a recommendation if you're interested in that!
4.5 STARS
Loosely based on Aton Chekov's THE CHERRY ORCHARD, the story follows Anya and Milka as they grow up in 1980s Moscow and at Anya's family's dacha (country house) just outside the city. The early chapters are filled with childish joy on the girls' part but tinged with the reality of living in Soviet Russia as Anya's parents discuss their history and living situation. When the girls reach high school, the USSR is on the verge of collapse. Joined by two classmates, Trifonov and Lopatin, the friends grapple with the changing political environment in which they live and their own coming of age. When a sudden tragedy strikes and reveals long-held secrets, the foursome fractures.
Part two of the book jumps forward in time and we find Anya living with her husband in America. When her parents tell her that a company headed by Lopatin is trying to force them into selling the dacha and cutting down its orchard, Anya returns home and confronts the past she buried there.
This book is beautifully written, heartbreakingly sad, and also somehow hopeful. If you enjoy coming-of-age stories filled with complicated relationships, I highly recommend it.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ebook version of this book for review!
Loosely based on Aton Chekov's THE CHERRY ORCHARD, the story follows Anya and Milka as they grow up in 1980s Moscow and at Anya's family's dacha (country house) just outside the city. The early chapters are filled with childish joy on the girls' part but tinged with the reality of living in Soviet Russia as Anya's parents discuss their history and living situation. When the girls reach high school, the USSR is on the verge of collapse. Joined by two classmates, Trifonov and Lopatin, the friends grapple with the changing political environment in which they live and their own coming of age. When a sudden tragedy strikes and reveals long-held secrets, the foursome fractures.
Part two of the book jumps forward in time and we find Anya living with her husband in America. When her parents tell her that a company headed by Lopatin is trying to force them into selling the dacha and cutting down its orchard, Anya returns home and confronts the past she buried there.
This book is beautifully written, heartbreakingly sad, and also somehow hopeful. If you enjoy coming-of-age stories filled with complicated relationships, I highly recommend it.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ebook version of this book for review!