The Collector by Daniel Silva

Finally caught up with the Daniel Silva books on my TBR shelf, although this was read sporadically while I was trying to read my way through the Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures series books as well as the Gables Book Club books. The Collector is the 23rd in the Gabriel Allon series and Silva just keeps getting better in his craft with each of them. 

Despite the fact that Allon is supposed to be in retirement, he is recalled back into service as the master spy and art expert that he has practiced in his past. He needs to track down a painting that had been stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. It seems that within the secret safe of Lukas van Damme, a very rich shipping tycoon, an empty frame was found that would match that painting  - The Concert by Vermeer. Van Damme had been murdered and it was argued that the murderer was also the one who stole the painting. As he investigates, the trail leads to him Denmark and a cybersecurity expert, Ingrid Johansen. She is also a renowned thief and Allon soon recognizes that she could be an ally in resolving the crimes. 

In inimitable Silva fashion the novel takes on a much more serious theme as the investigation leads to a possibility of a nuclear war between the United States and Russia. With the introduction of Ingrid, he has created another strong character who works with him in averting the crisis and the resolution of the crimes. The plot is intricate and one of the best in the series. 

It is amazing how Silva is almost prescient in knowing world events before they happen. In this novel, the Russian war with Ukraine plays a large part in how the events materialize. The tensions between Moscow and the U.S. are also underscored. Silva's books are masterpieces in spy and politics and never fail to entertain. It will be interesting to see how and if he includes Ingrid in his 2024 book which will be published in July!

 

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

I was super excited when the Gables Book Club chose this book for our October read. I was disappointed that we missed hearing Amor Towles speak when he was in Pittsburgh. The book has been on the best seller list for weeks on end and has intrigued me. The downside was that we all had a difficult time getting the book from the libraries around us and so ended up buying the Kindle version. 

There are some books that when you read the words on the page, they conjure up the most vivid picture in your mind. Such was A Gentleman in Moscow. I found myself rereading and bookmarking so many passages in this book that I know I want to revisit. Towles style is remarkable. The novel begins shortly after the Russian with the sentencing of Alexander Rostov to spending his life confined to the Metropol Hotel in Moscow for supposedly speaking out against the state in a poem. The Metropol was and is a place of aristocratic grandeur with restaurants among the best in Russia. It was definitely not the Gulag despite The Count's quarters being on the top floor in almost an attic room. Having moved the most meaningful pieces in his life, including his grandfather's desk and his father's twice tolling clock, Alexander settles in with his books and wine. 

During his time there that spans decades into the 1960s, the reader is introduced to a cadre of characters that impact The Count's life. There is Mishka, an old and dear friend, also unsympathetic to the historical events of the time, writer and muse. Anna, a willowy woman and actress, becomes his lover and friend, the triumvirate of the kitchen staff, Marina, the hotel seamstress who becomes a surrogate mother of sorts, and Nina and Sofia, the two most important women in his life. The antagonist, whom the reader detests, is Leplevsky, aka The Bishop, because of his character being like the chess piece. He 

"never moved along the rank or file. With him it was always on the bias: slipping diagonally from corner to corner” (p.218)

The Bishop sets out to bring Alexander to the denouement he thinks he deserves. There are numerous other characters who touch Alexander's life and they are all so well developed in the telling of the story that the reader can picture them and almost feel that s/he knows them well.  Even the one-eyed cat!
 

Throughout the novel, told by an omniscient narrator, one feasts one the words as well as the food and wine, as The Count, recipient of the Order of Saint Andrew, member of the Jockey Club, Master of the Hunt.... goes about his daily routines. At the onset, he is befriended by Nina who approaches him after she notices that he is missing his mustache. She shows him places in the hotel that had not been seen before as they listen in to meetings and conversations. She gives him that spirit that at times he is lacking. She reappears as a member of an activist group that sets out to collectivize the farms. Her last appearance is when she drops her young daughter, Sofia, off to be cared for by The Count. Sofia, whom the count eventually adopts, gives him that will to live again. She is a serious girl who grows up before the reader's eye to become an accomplished pianist, a situation that creates the climax of the book. 

There are some twists, turns, and happenings that take one by surprise. The cause for Alexander to suddenly leave the hotel and then return incognito is a critical moment. It paves the way for events to come. Abram, the handyman and beekeeper, provides wisdom beyond the expected and figures heavily in a watershed moment when The Count believes that the world he has loved with its grace, etiquette, and manners. This loss of culture is difficult for the Count to adjust.

As a secondary pleasure, it was a bit nostalgic to read the descriptions of St. Petersburg and Moscow. It brought back memories of the cemeteries, gardens, and the Kremlin, which were all so beautiful.

A Gentleman in Moscow is bound to stay with the reader for months and years to come. The book club agreed that it is a book worth of rereading in it's entirety because of the richness of the language. To be sure, it is a novel that any serious lover of literature needs to experience, immerse oneself in, and absorb. And then, to go back again and do it all over. 

Poland by James Michener

Nearly a year after I started Poland by James Michener, the book has been finished. I began the book in anticipation of our trip to Poland in June of 2016. The tome was over 650 pages and really needed a very extended period of free time to be able to read it in a timely fashion. That is something that just doesn't happen in my life. Between book club books and client work, I had to read the book in piecemeal style. I have always enjoyed Michener's books, but this one was tedious and I probably would have not finished it if I weren't so stubborn about reading to the end of a book that I have started.

The novel centers around the story of three families of Buk, Bukowski and Lubonski from the very early history of the land around 1240 through the present time - that when Michener wrote it - 1983. They represent 3 social groups from peasant to noble to magnate. It begins in 1981 with a meeting of the minister of agriculture and the leaders of the farmers. It is during the Communist rule and centers around the possibility of forming a union. It is reminiscent of the beginning of the Solidarity movement. From that introduction to the families the reader is taken back to the time of the invasion of the Mongols into Poland.

It would take nearly as many pages to describe all the action of Poland as the length of the book itself. One of the most ponderous effects of the novel was the superabundance of names. It was difficult to keep them all straight. I did find that the pace of the novel picked up as we got to the 1800s. The story of the Golden Freedom, the partitioning of Poland, the rise of the Nazis and the horror of the Holocaust were much more accessible than earlier chapter. To this reader the in depth description of battles, armies, and armor is tedious and "skip-worthy." However, Michener does weave certain themes through the book. Poland has always been a liberal player in the history of eastern Europe and has been the target of numerous Russian invasions. Yet, through it all, the Poles have managed to survive and as we are witnessing today, almost thriving. Warsaw is a growing and vibrant world capital today, proving Michener's points. 

For anyone with the time and interest in this country, this is would be a great read. It begs to be read in less time than a year, but it did give insight and perspective into the history of a beautiful country that is a gem for anyone to visit.

Russka by Edward Rutherfurd

WHEW, I finished it. In anticipation of our trip to Russia, I began reading Russka back in January. I have absolutely loved all of Rutherfurd's books and it was with great anticipation that I started this 900+ page tome. I would have loved to have read this in a much more compressed time period, but my commitment to my ProGen class, The Gables Book Club, and some traveling all got in the way of that goal. But I stuck with it and it certainly was worthwhile for the background history it provided.

Rutherfurd covers nearly 1800 years of Russian history through the stories of 5 families whose stories are told from different perspectives. They are the Bobrovs, Romanovs, Karpenkos, Suvorins and Popovs. The novel weaves the characters from the families into the actual history of the country. Representing serfs, Tartars, Ukrainians, Cossacks, and eventually the Bolsheviks, Marxists, and Socialists. The chapters cover just a snippet of the time period in question and give the reader a sense of the history in the context of the main characters. It is, for sure, an ambitious undertaking. But, that is the style of Rutherfurd. The reader sees the transformation of the country from the rural villages to the world power of the Soviet Union and its consequent break-up. 

This was a very difficult book for me, unlike other Rutherfurd's other novels. It just didn't seem to flow as cleanly from one era to another and I did get bogged down a bit. It did, however, give an impression of the Russian people and the conflicts that they have endured in their history. It was especially telling about the relations with the Crimean people and the Ukrainians and emphasized that the conflicts there today are so deeply rooted in the past that resolution is improbable.

The English Girl by Daniel Silva

Gabriel Allon appears in his 13th novel by Daniel Silva in The English Girl. Once again, Silva does not disappoint. He is an author on whom the reader can count to deliver a story with twists, turns, strong characters and well researched locations. 

At the end of Silva's last book, The Fallen Angel, we left Gabriel and Chiara in Jerusalem after having survived a major terrorism incident. The destiny of a number of familiar characters was hanging in the balance and the reader had to wait an entire year to read of their fate. The action of this latest novel begins in Corsica where Madeline Hart, the English Girl, is kidnapped. She has been linked to having an affair with the British Prime Minister and the ransom for her life will need to be paid before she is released and the proof destroyed. Allon is called upon to help rescue her - his ability to slip in and out of countries without detection is a major reason. His task further takes him Marseilles, France, Surrey, Essex and the private realm of #10 Downing Street before the climax in Russia.

Along the way Gabriel enlists the aid of Christopher Keller, an operative who once had Allon in his sights. Their alliance, tho unusual, takes advantage of each man's talents and skills. However, as is typical of Silva's books, the plan encounters a major roadblock in the explosion of the car with Hart's body in the trunk at the time of the arranged exchange. Gabriel becomes more focused on avenging the girl's death and soon the familiar team is assembled at a safe house in Surrey. The plan pieced together like working on a jigsaw puzzle. Each element is crucial to the completion of the mission. The complex strategy requires infiltration of a Russian Oil company and another kidnapping. 

When the reader begins to feel like all the pieces are falling into place, the puzzle is reconfigured. There are enough twists and turns that finally come to a brilliant conclusion. Daniel Silva is a master storyteller. The action keeps the reader turning pages to see the completed puzzle as a whole entity. What is even more masterful is ability to paint a picture of a place. His attention to detail is superb and consummate and his insight into world affairs profound. In The English Girl he has prophesied the Snowdon affair as well as the use of chemical weapons by Syria and the Hezbollah. We are left wondering if the old woman fortuneteller in Corsica was as astute with her prognostications? I guess we will learn in July, 2014.

Winter Gardedn by Kristin Hannah

The cover image of Kristin Hannah's Winter Garden mirrors the chill inside the book. It is a chill that permeates the weather, but also relationships. But, yet, there is a butterfly that foretells the coming of a time of warmth.

Anya is the aloof mother of Nina and Meredith, daughters who have taken different paths in life. Nina is the adventurer, the National Geographic photojournalist who has traveled the world and chronicled wars and famines. Although involved with Danny, she has not and does not want to put down roots. Meredith, on the other hand, married young, has two daughters, and has stayed close to home helping to run the family orchard business. They converge at the bedside of their beloved father when he has had a severe stroke and is near death. He is the glue that has held the family together and his last wish is for his daughters to get to know and love their mother, something that has not been possible for the girls despite their trying.  "Make her tell you the story of the peasant girl and the prince," their beloved father had said. "All of it this time."

As they were growing up the girls were treated to fairy tales told by their mother. They took place in Russia, her home before coming to the U.S. Beyond that they knew very little of their mother's life. In fact, it is only at the end of the book that they actually find out when Anya's birthday is. Struggling to hold their lives together after their father's death, Meredith and Nina must make sense of their mother's dementia (or is it just grief), their personal lives, and the emptiness that surrounds them.  It is through the fairy tale of the peasant girl and he prince that the reader and the girls learn the reason that Anya has lived in the cold shell of the Winter Garden. 

This book was slow to engage me. At the beginning I was very impatient with the direction the story was taking as well as the prolonged narration of the story within the story. As it became more clear as to the purpose of Anya's tale, I was taken in. The siege of Leningrad and the plight of the Russian people is heartbreaking. Man's inhumanity has played out in so many venues and time periods, but the conditions in Russia during this time were more than appalling. (Very reminiscent although from a different perspective of Bohjalian's Skeletons at the Feast.) As the sisters begin to understand their mother they know what they must do to crack the ice that stands in the way of unconditional love and acceptance. A trip to Alaska, a visit to a professor who has written a treatise on the Siege, and a chance meeting in a coffee shop, and a powerful resolution give explanation for Anya's actions.

I cannot understand ( I don't have that perspective) of how a woman can be so affected that she is not able to love her children with all her heart and soul, even with the horrific experience that is her life. That part of the novel just doesn't ring true to me. The strength of the novel is in Kristin Hannah's description. The settings as diverse as an orchard in Washington, a homestead filled with memories, a Russian city under siege, the beauty of Alaska are masterfully penned. Again, this is a book I would probably not have read if it had not been a book discussion selection.