A set of sinuously intertwined stories charting the lives of the inhabitants of a Soviet industrial town in the run-up to the fall of Communism, Reva’s wonderfully nimble collection is richly evocative of time and place. Held together by one of the most distinctive protagonists in recent fiction, Good Citizens Need Not Fear is a stunningly realised piece of work.
'Bright, funny, satirical and relevant. . . . A new talent to watch!' MARGARET ATWOOD (via Twitter)
'Bang-on brilliant' MIRIAM TOEWS
This brilliant and bitingly funny novel-in-stories, set in and around a single crumbling apartment building in Soviet-era Ukraine, heralds the arrival of a major new talent.
'A comic triumph' GLOBE AND MAIL
A cast of unforgettable characters--citizens of the small industrial town of Kirovka--populate Maria Reva's ingeniously entwined tales that span the chaotic years leading up to and immediately following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989. Weaving the strands of the narrative together is an unforgettable, chameleon-like young woman named Zaya: an orphan turned beauty-pageant crasher who survives the extraordinary circumstances of her childhood through a compelling combination of ferocity, intelligence, stubbornness and wit.
Inspired by her own family's history, Reva's Good Citizens Need Not Fear takes us from paranoia to tenderness and back again, exploring what it is to be an individual amid the roiling forces of history.
'Luminous' YANN MARTEL
'Outstanding' ANTHONY DOERR
'Maria Reva's enthralling debut of interlinked short stories achieves the double effect of timelessness and timeliness' KAPKA KASSABOVA, GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE DAY
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
ISBN: 9780349012704
Number of pages: 224
Weight: 340 g
Dimensions: 218 x 140 x 26 mm
Please sign in to write a review
Would you like to proceed to the App store to download the Waterstones App?
