The Little Russian spotlights an exciting new voice in historical
fiction, an assured debut that should appeal to readers of Away by Amy
Bloom or Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier. The novel tells the story
of Berta Alshonsky, who revels in childhood memories of her time spent
with a wealthy family in Moscow -a life filled with salons, balls and
all the trappings of the upper class -- very different from her current
life as a grocer's daughter in the Jewish townlet of Mosny. So when a
mysterious and cultured wheat merchant walks into the grocery, Berta's
life is forever altered. She falls in love, unaware that he is a member
of the Bund, The Jewish Worker's League, smuggling arms to the shtetls
to defend them against the pogroms sweeping the Little Russian
countryside.
Married and established in the wheat center of Cherkast, Berta has
recaptured the life she once had in Moscow. So when a smuggling
operation goes awry and her husband must flee the country, Berta makes
the vain and foolish choice to stay behind with her children and her
finery. As Russia plunges into war, Berta eventually loses everything
and must find a new way to sustain the lives and safety of her children.
Filled with heart-stopping action, richly drawn characters, and a world
seeped in war and violence; The Little Russian is poised to capture
readers as one of the hand-selling gems of the season.
