The Patriots: A NovelA sweeping multigenerational novel about idealism, betrayal, and family secrets set in the U.S. and Russia, from one of Granta's Best of Young American Novelists When the Great Depression hits, Florence Fein leaves Brooklyn College for a job in Moscow--and the promise of love and independence. But once in Russia, she quickly becomes entangled in a country she can't escape. Many years later, Florence's son, Julian, immigrates back to the United States, though his work in the oil industry takes him on frequent visits to Moscow. When he learns that Florence's KGB file has been opened, he arranges a business trip to uncover the truth about his mother, and to convince his son, Lenny--trying to make his fortune in Putin's cutthroat Russia--to return home. What Julian discovers is both chilling and heartbreaking: an untold story of a generation of Americans abandoned by their country, and the secret history of two rival nations colluding under the cover of enmity. The Patriots is a riveting evocation of the Cold War years, told with brilliant insight and extraordinary skill. Alternating between Florence's and Julian's perspectives, it is at once a mother-son story and a tale of two countries bound in a dialectic dance; a love story and a spy story; both a grand, old-fashioned epic and a contemporary novel of ideas. Through the history of one family moving back and forth between continents over three generations, The Patriots is a poignant tale of the power of love, the rewards and risks of friendship, and the secrets parents and children keep from one another. Praise for The Patriots "The Patriots is a historical romance in the old style: multigenerational, multi-narrative, intercontinental, laden with back stories and historical research, moving between scrupulous detail and sweeping panoramas, the first-person voice and a kaleidoscopic third, melodrama and satire, Cleveland in 1933 and Moscow in 2008."--Nathaniel Rich, The New York Times Book Review "Dazzling and addictive . . . an outstanding family saga."--The Spectator (U.K.) "Extraordinary . . . The Patriots has the weight of a classic."--Commentary Magazine "I found on every page an observation so acute, a sentence of such truth and shining detail, that it demanded re-reading for the sheer pleasure of it. The Patriots has convinced me that Krasikov belongs among the totemic young writers of her era."--Khaled Hosseini, author of And the Mountains Echoed and The Kite Runner "The Patriots is a masterwork, a Dr. Zhivago for our times."--Yann Martel, author of The High Mountains of Portugal and Life of Pi "A sustained feat of brilliance."--Anthony Marra, author of The Tsar of Love and Techno "In a galvanizing tale of flawed and courageous protagonists, erotic and political passion, and harrowing struggles for survival, Krasikov masterfully and devastatingly exposes the 'whole dark clockwork' of totalitarianism and asks what it means to be a hero, a patriot, a human being."--Booklist (starred review) "Ambitious and compelling."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review) |
Contents
Qualitative Leaps NEW YORK 1934 | 3 |
Agnosia WASHINGTON D C 2008 | 17 |
Graphomaniacs WASHINGTON D C 2008 28 | 43 |
Steel CLEVELAND 1933 | 58 |
Departures CLEVELAND 1933 | 64 |
Arrivals MOSCOW 1934 | 78 |
BOOK II | 87 |
The Great Communicator WASHINGTON D C 2008 | 89 |
Cleaning House Moscow 1937 | 264 |
Our Friends from Geneva MOSCOW 2008 | 271 |
Life on the Mississippi Moscow 1939 | 276 |
A Dignified ExitMoscow 2008 | 288 |
Secrets MOSCOW 1940 | 300 |
Volgans MOSCOW 2008 | 311 |
Little Birch Tree Moscow 1940 | 316 |
BOOK V | 321 |
Independence Day uoscow 2008 | 95 |
Homecoming Moscow 2008 | 113 |
Little Enemies SARATOV 1951 | 120 |
BOOK III | 143 |
Magnetic City MAGNITOGORSK 1934 | 145 |
GoldMOSCOW 1934 | 154 |
A Man of the People MOSCOW 1934 | 161 |
The Heatbird Moscow 1934 | 172 |
A New Mentalitet Moscow 1934 | 180 |
Socialist Realism Moscow 2008 | 190 |
Conspiracy Theories Moscow 1934 | 194 |
Za Nas Za Vas Moscow 2008 | 217 |
Tragic Errands Moscow 1936 | 226 |
A Clean RecordMoscow 2008 | 231 |
ReceiptsMOSCOW 1936 | 237 |
BOOK IV | 255 |
The Utopist Altar Moscow 2008 | 257 |
Invisible Man Moscow 2008 | 323 |
Second Chances KUIBYSHEV 1943 | 341 |
Life vs Pravda Moscow 1948 | 350 |
EscapeMOSCOW 1948 | 381 |
With Good Steam MOSCOW 2008 | 406 |
Savages with Chronometers MOSCOW 2008 | 420 |
Comrade Brink Moscow 2008 | 454 |
Muzhchina MOSCOW 2008 | 466 |
BOOK VI | 471 |
The Pilot PERM 1951 | 473 |
The Magic Flight Moscow 1975 | 514 |
The Dialectics of Florence Fein Moscow 1978 | 522 |
Avalon MARLBORO N J 2008 | 528 |
Brooklyn NEW YORK 1981 | 534 |
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS | 541 |
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Common terms and phrases
Alyosha American Amtorg Aprelevka asked better Brink BYKOV called cigarette dacha desk door Essie Essie's everything eyes face father feel felt fingers Flor Flora Florence Florence's Florie foreign Fyodor girl glass Gosbank hair hand head hear heard inside Itzik Feffer Jewish Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee Jews Kablukov Kachak Katya keep kielbasa kitchen knew Komsomol Kuibyshev L-Pet Lenny Lenny's Leon Leon's living look Lyuli Magnitogorsk Mama Mikhoels morning Moscow mother mouth Mukhov never night NKVD once paper passport pulled Robbins Russian seemed Seldon Sergey Sergey Sokolov she'd Sidney smile someone Soviet Soviet Union Stalin stood stop Subotin sure talk tell thing thought Timofeyev told took trying turned Valda Valya voice waiting walked watched week who'd window woman words Yasha Yiddish Yulik