
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena
Anthony Marra
*** Granta Best of Young American Novelists 2017 ***
In a snow-covered village in Chechnya, eight-year-old Havaa watches from the woods as her father is abducted in the middle of the night by Russian soldiers. Their life-long friend and neighbour, Akhmed, has also been watching, and when he finds Havaa he knows of only one person who might be able to help.
For tough-minded doctor Sonja Rabina, it’s just another day of trying to keep her bombed-out, abandoned hospital going. When Akhmed arrives with Havaa, asking Sonja for shelter, she has no idea who the pair are. But over the course of five extraordinary days, Sonja’s world will shift on its axis, revealing the intricate pattern of connections that binds these three unlikely companions together and unexpectedly decides their fate.
'A Constellation of Vital Phenomena is simply spectacular' Ann Patchett
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About Anthony Marra
Reviews for A Constellation of Vital Phenomena
Ann Patchett
Storytelling of magical purity, illuminated by hope... Marra is a magnificent writer
Vanora Bennett
The Times
An extraordinary first novel... A 21st-century War and Peace
New York Times
Both heart-wrenching and uplifting, a stunning, intricately plotted, brilliantly written, tour-de-force of a novel that burns into the memory
Choice
A powerful tale... rivals anything Michael Ondaatje has written in its emotional force
John Freeman
Boston Globe