A gentle story of survival in a war-scarred land.
A Ukrainian beekeeper strives in the face of hardship to make the most of his simple life.
Until it was thrust into the headlines by Russia’s invasion in February 2022, Ukraine was far from the minds of most Western readers. Through the story of Sergey Sergeyich, a divorced, disabled Ukrainian mine safety inspector and passionate beekeeper, Kurkov transforms the abstractions of geopolitics into an intensely human account of compassion and persistence. Along with Pashka, his lifelong frenemy, Sergeyich is one of the two remaining inhabitants of Little Starhorodivka, a village in Ukraine’s “Grey Zone”—the front line between the nation’s troops and pro-Russian separatists in the Donbas region. The village, so small it has only two main streets whose names Sergeyich decides to reverse in a moment of whimsy, has been without electricity for three years. Through a harsh winter, as the sounds of distant shelling periodically shatter the silence, Sergeyich survives on a diet of buckwheat, millet, and the occasional egg, heating his home with a coal-fired potbelly stove and lighting it with candles scavenged from the ruins of the village’s bombed-out church. Pashka has secured for himself a marginally more comfortable lifestyle due to his friendship with the separatist forces. With the onset of warmer weather, Sergeyich impulsively decamps with his six beehives on an odyssey across a war-ravaged landscape that will eventually bring him to the Crimean home of Akhtem, a Tatar beekeeper he met at a convention years earlier. But when he arrives, he finds himself more connected to Akhtem’s family than he ever anticipated, in the process discovering a common humanity that transcends borders and faiths. Kurkov’s prose is as unassuming as his characters. In his portrayal, Sergeyich is an Everyman embroiled against his will in “a war in which he [has] taken no part.” The humble pleasure he derives from tending to his bees and his determination simply to endure another difficult day make for a subtly inspirational tale.
A gentle story of survival in a war-scarred land.Pub Date: April 19, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-646051-66-3
Page Count: 360
Publisher: Deep Vellum
Review Posted Online: March 8, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2022
PERSPECTIVES
A grim yet gleefully gratifying tale of lost innocence and found family.
A woman fears she made a fatal mistake by taking in a blood-soaked tween during a storm.
High winds and torrential rain are forecast for “The Middle of Nowhere, New Hampshire,” making Casey question the structural integrity of her ramshackle rental cabin. Still, she’s loath to seek shelter with her lecherous landlord or her paternalistic neighbor, so instead she just crosses her fingers, gathers some candles, and hopes for the best. Casey is cooking dinner when she notices a light in her shed. She grabs her gun and investigates, only to find a rail-thin girl hiding in the corner under a blanket. She’s clutching a knife with “Eleanor” written on the handle in black marker, and though her clothes are bloody, she appears uninjured. The weather is rapidly worsening, so before she can second-guess herself, former Boston-area teacher Casey invites the girl—whom she judges to be 12 or 13—inside to eat and get warm. A wary but starving Eleanor accepts in exchange for Casey promising not to call the police—a deal Casey comes to regret after the phones go down, the power goes out, and her hostile, sullen guest drops something that’s a big surprise. Meanwhile, in interspersed chapters labeled “Before,” middle-schooler Ella befriends fellow outcast Anton, who helps her endure life in Medford, Massachusetts, with her abusive, neglectful hoarder of a mother. As per her usual, McFadden lulls readers using a seemingly straightforward thriller setup before launching headlong into a series of progressively seismic (and increasingly bonkers) plot twists. The visceral first-person, present-tense narrative alternates perspectives, fostering tension and immediacy while establishing character and engendering empathy. Ella and Anton’s relationship particularly shines, its heartrending authenticity counterbalancing some of the story’s soapier turns.
A grim yet gleefully gratifying tale of lost innocence and found family.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781464260919
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
A standout in the series.
The sixth adventure of Harvard symbology professor Robert Langdon explores the mysteries of human consciousness, the demonic projects of the CIA, and the city of Prague.
“Ladies and gentlemen...we are about to experience a sea change in our understanding of how the brain works, the nature of consciousness, and in fact…the very nature of reality itself.” But first—Langdon’s in love! Brown’s devoted readers first met brilliant noetic scientist Katherine Solomon in The Lost Symbol (2009); she’s back as a serious girlfriend, engaging the committed bachelor in a way not seen before. The book opens with the pair in a luxurious suite at the Four Seasons in Prague. It’s the night after Katherine has delivered the lecture quoted above, setting the theme for the novel, which features a plethora of real-life cases and anomalies that seem to support the notion that human consciousness is not localized inside the human skull. Brown’s talent for assembling research is also evident in this novel’s alter ego as a guidebook to Prague, whose history and attractions are described in great and glowing detail. Whether you appreciate or skim past the innumerable info dumps on these and other topics (Jewish folklore fans—the Golem is in the house!), it goes without saying that concision is not a goal in the Dan Brown editing process. Speaking of editing, the nearly 700-page book is dedicated to Brown’s editor, who seems to appear as a character—to put it in the italicized form used for Brownian insight, Jason Kaufman must be Jonas Faukman! A major subplot involves the theft of Katherine’s manuscript from the secure servers of Penguin Random House; the delightful Faukman continues to spout witty wisecracks even when blindfolded and hogtied. There’s no shortage of action, derring-do, explosions, high-tech torture machines, attempted and successful murders, and opportunities for split-second, last-minute escapes; good thing Langdon, this aging symbology wonk, never misses swimming his morning laps. Readers who are not already dyed-in-the-wool Langdonites may find themselves echoing the prof’s own conclusion regarding the credibility of all this paranormal hoo-ha: At some point, skepticism itself becomes irrational.
A standout in the series.Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2025
ISBN: 9780385546898
Page Count: 688
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
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