Historical fiction is my favourite genre because I love to learn while reading. For me, history comes alive when a good plot and interesting characters are added to the story. This particular novel concerns the Great Depression in 1930's Winnipeg, Stalinist Russia and World War II.
The prologue is narrated by a 9 year old girl in the year 1935. Her father is boarding a train in Winnipeg, Canada to an unknown destination. Thirty friends are there to see him off, including his neighbours and his family. He's packed two small suitcases. His daughter is not happy that he is going. She tries to hide on the train to go with him. This opening seems like a flashback, hooking the reader into the story by revealing only some of the facts. Where the father is going and why he is leaving without his family are questions to be answered by further reading.
The next chapter jumps to the present time. The girl is now a grandmother, looking back at her memories and retelling the story of her life. She talks about her parents and her childhood. She mentions a mysterious document, Article 58-1a that accuses her of a deed she doesn't want to remember. She talks about how time has changed things for everyone. "Time is slippery. If we let go that thread of the present, we're released into what gave us this moment, the darkness in it or the light." Mysterious phrases such as this not only foreshadow the choices that had to be made in the past but also keep the reader engaged in the story to follow. I am curious to find out what happened to this girl and her family and how they fit into the historical context presented.
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