Book description
A rich, immersive debut novel, inspired by true events, about a meeting between two women in 1970s Soviet Russia—a deeply religious homesteader living in isolation with her family on the Siberian taiga and an ambitious scientist—that irrevocably changes the course of both of their lives.
Galina, a promising young geologist…
Why read it?
1 author picked Lost Believers as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
I was drawn to this book because of its focus on a group of religious believers who have separated themselves so thoroughly from civilization that they haven’t had contact with other humans for 50 years. How can you not be intrigued by that premise?
Zhorov creates a rich, sympathetic portrait of the believers (complete with a ghost) as they come in contact with young Soviet scientists who are surveying the Siberian wilderness for possible mining/industrial development. The scientists, educated idealists who have great hopes for the Soviet Union after the death of Stalin, are forever changed by their encounters with…
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December on 5C4
Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!
On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…
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