The Patriots: A Novel

The Patriots: A Novel

A sweeping multigenerational novel about idealism, betrayal, and family secrets set in the U.S. and Russia, from one ofÂ Grantaâ€™s Best of Young American Novelists

When the Great Depression hits, Florence Fein leaves Brooklyn College for what appears to be a plum job in Moscowâ€”and the promise of love and independence. But once in Russia, she quickly becomes entangled in a country she canâ€™t escape. Many years later, Florenceâ€™s son, Julian, will make the opposite journey, immigrating back to the United States. His work in the oil industry takes him on frequent visits to Moscow, and when he learns that Florenceâ€™s KGB file has been opened, he arranges a business trip to uncover the truth about his mother, and to convince his son, Lenny, who is trying to make his fortune in the new Russia, to return home. What he discovers is both chilling and heartbreaking: an untold story of what happened to a generation of Americans abandoned by their country.

The Patriots is a riveting evocation of the Cold War years, told with brilliant insight and extraordinary skill. Alternating between Florenceâ€™s and Julianâ€™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

â€œThe 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.â€â€”Nathaniel Rich, The New York Times Book Review

â€œDazzling and addictive . . . an outstanding family saga.â€â€”The Spectator (U.K.)

â€œExtraordinary . . . The Patriots has the weight of a classic."â€”Commentary Magazine

â€œI 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.â€â€”Khaled Hosseini, author of And the Mountains Echoed and The Kite Runner

â€œThe Patriots is a masterwork, a Dr. Zhivago for our times.â€â€”Yann Martel, author of The High Mountains of Portugal and Life of Pi

â€œSana Krasikovâ€™s masterful The Patriots works that rare novelistic magic that can sweep us over tumultuous decades, illuminate the workings of history, and at the same time reveal the personal depths of rich, complex characters. This is one of the finest first novels Iâ€™ve read in ages.â€â€”Robert Olen Butler, Pulitzer Prizeâ€“winning author of The Empire of Night and The Star of Istanbul

â€œIn a galvanizing tale of flawed and courageous protagonists, erotic and political passion, and harrowing struggles for survival, Krasikov masterfully and devastatingly exposes the â€˜whole dark clockworkâ€™ of totalitarianism and asks what it means to be a hero, a patriot, a human being.â€â€”Booklist (starred review)

â€œAmbitious and compelling.â€â€”Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Country	USA
Author	Sana Krasikov
Binding	Hardcover
Brand	Spiegel Grau
EAN	9780385524414
Feature	Spiegel Grau
ISBN	0385524412
Label	Spiegel & Grau
Manufacturer	Spiegel & Grau
NumberOfItems	1
NumberOfPages	560
PublicationDate	2017-01-24
Publisher	Spiegel & Grau
ReleaseDate	2017-01-24
Studio	Spiegel & Grau

The Patriots: A Novel

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