The Lost Year

This book reminds me that it's a good idea to pick up a book on a whim. I am guilty of having a TBR list with so many books that there will be no way to read them all. That said, I also like to pick up books that I see are available at random. Hence where this book comes in. I had never read the author before, nor had I read much about the subject matter. I knew that Stalin was a horrible dictator, and he had starved the people of Ukraine, but I didn't know to what extent. I am glad to say that this book was good enough not only for me to want to like it on its own, but also to make me want to move books about the historical event it is based on up my (very long) TBR list.

We see this book from three different perspectives.

The first is Matthew. Set in the year 2020 during the opening months of the Pandemic, he has to spend his time stuck at home, waiting nervously for things to get better, the only bright spot in his life being his possible summer trip to France with his father, who is currently stuck in Europe on a business trip. Deprived of his Switch by his mother, he is forced to work with his Great Grandmother, GG, going through old boxes. Thinking it is just going to be old junk that no one can use, he is surprised to find a secret of his Great Grandmother, and he yearns to discover it.

Then we have the other timeline set in the 1930s focusing on three different girls. The first is Mila, a spoiled communist living in the Soviet Union. Then there is Nadia, a starving Kulak from Ukraine, and a girl named Helen, a Ukraian-American girl in Brooklin. All three of them are forced to deal with the starving time in Ukraine, Mila's father has to find traders for the Communist party while hiding secrets of his own. Nadia, a girl in Ukraine, is trying to find Mila's family for help after her own family dies of starvation, all the while hiding from the Soviet guards and secret police who would capture her if given the chance. Then, there is Helen, a girl who feels alone and depressed at her writing, as she fights to give a voice to those starving in Ukraine who, it turns out, have a false view painted of them by the Soviet Union through their control of the mainstream media.

All of these viewpoints are compelling and made me want to read more about them. I especially liked how journalism and writing are themes used throughout the work. For Mila, she cannot believe that he father is hiding a dark secret, but who can she trust, when Stalin's spies are everywhere? She learns not to trust the written propaganda that she sees and wants to think for herself, even if the only possibilities are unthinkable. Then there is the journalism aspect of Helen. She wants to tell the truth about what is happening in Ukraine, but she is unsure how she will sound, being that English is not her first language. Then there is in 2020, with both of Matt's parents being journalists. This makes the idea of having a voice come full circle. There is also a section at the end on writing and taking your ideas from concept to reality that is a nice touch.

I do think that the best aspect of this book is how all four lives are woven together. We see them grow and change as the story progresses and things come to light for our characters. Some see the world the way it is, while others see it as they want it to be, and work towards that. It all makes for interesting themes and ideas that can be touched upon in a group setting.

I also liked the narration in this book, with all of the narrators doing a good job, especially Jesse Villinsky. I loved her in Resistance by Jennifer Nealson, and she is just as good here. However, I think I am starting to suspect that she is hired because she can do a good voice of a girl who is in emotional pain, which seems to be a condition of the characters in the books she reads. Typecasting aside, the narration is well done.

I did find Helen's story to be the weakest. This makes sense, as her's is given the least focus overall, but it mostly seemed to pale in magnitude to the rest. We have one boy dealing with the worst pandemic to hit the US in 100 years, a girl and her family who are starving to death, another girl who finds out that her father has been telling lies about his entire family, and...a girl who is scared her writing will not be good enough to be sent to a newspaper. See what I mean? The tone and conflicts just don't seem to match with the others on offer. Still, this should be taken more as an observation than any actual problem. I loved all these stories overall.

I would say that these stories all come together nicely by the end to remind me that, despite my ever-growing TBR, I should be grateful for the little gifts that are these surprise books I can find at my local library. I give it a four out of five.