Haunting Novel of Hope and Humanity

Stegner Fellow and Whiting Award winner Anthony Marra transports us to a snow-covered village in Chechnya, where eight-year-old Havaa watches  as Russian soldiers abduct her father, accusing him of aiding Chechen rebels. Across the road their lifelong neighbor and  friend Akhmed has also been watching, fearing the worst when the soldiers set fire to Havaa’s house. But when he finds her hiding in the forest with a strange suitcase, he makes a decision that will change their lives. He will seek refuge at the abandoned hospital where the sole  doctor, Sonja treats the wounded.  For Sonja, the arrival of Akhmed and Havaa is an unwelcome surprise. And she has a deeply personal reason for caution: harboring these refugees could easily jeopardize the return of her missing sister. But over the course of five extraordinary days, Sonja’s world will shift.  A story of the transcendent power of love in wartime, A Constellation of Vital Phenomena is a work of sweeping breadth, profound compassion, and lasting significance.

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