A Constellation of Vital Phenomena: A NovelNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD • A searing debut about the transcendent power of love in wartime, hailed as “an absolute masterpiece” (Sarah Jessica Parker, Entertainment Weekly)—from the renowned author of Mercury Pictures Presents “Extraordinary . . . a twenty-first century War and Peace.”—The New York Times Book Review NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE JOHN LEONARD AWARD WINNER • ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal In the final days of December 2004, in a small rural village in Chechnya, eight-year-old Havaa hides in the woods when her father is abducted by Russian forces. Fearing for her life, she flees with their neighbor Akhmed—a failed physician—to the bombed-out hospital, where Sonja, the one remaining doctor, treats a steady stream of wounded rebels and refugees and mourns her missing sister. Over the course of five dramatic days, Akhmed and Sonja reach back into their pasts to unravel the intricate mystery of coincidence, betrayal, and forgiveness that unexpectedly binds them and decides their fate. A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, Chicago Tribune, NPR, Kansas City Star, San Francisco Chronicle, The Christian Science Monitor, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Kirkus Reviews |
Contents
| 1972 | |
Chapter 2 | 1994 |
Chapter 3 | 2004 |
Chapter 4 | |
Chapter 5 | |
Chapter 6 | |
Chapter 7 | |
Chapter 8 | |
Chapter 15 | |
Chapter 16 | |
Chapter 17 | |
Chapter 18 | |
Chapter 19 | |
Chapter 20 | |
Chapter 21 | |
Chapter 22 | |
Chapter 9 | |
The Third | |
Chapter 10 | |
Chapter 11 | |
Chapter 12 | |
Chapter 13 | |
Chapter 14 | |
Chapter 24 | |
Chapter 25 | |
Chapter 26 | |
Chapter 28 | |
Dedication | |
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Common terms and phrases
afternoon Akhmed Akhmed's arborist arms asked bedroom beneath Boris Yeltsin breath brother Chechen Chechnya cheeks chest cigarette colonel couldn’t dental floss Deshi disappeared doctor dogs Dokka door earlier Eldár eyes face father Feds felt field commander fingers floor forest fucking girl Grozny hair hands Havaa head held hospital imam Kazakhstan Khassan kilometers knew land mines Landfill legs lips looked Maali Makarov Makarov pistol maternity ward meters months morning mother mouth Natasha never night nodded passed portrait pulled Ramzan reached rebels refugees remember returned road Russian Samsonite shahidka shoulder sister skin sleep smiled snow soldiers Sonja Soviet spoke stomach stood story suitcase teip tell thought told took trousers truck turned village voice Volchansk Wahhabi waiting walked wall watched weeks wife window woman wrapped zachistka