The Patriots

A Novel

By: Sana Krasikov

Narrated by: Suzanne Toren, George Guidall

Length: 22 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

A debut novel by acclaimed story writer Sana Krasikov that examines the effects of the Cold War on three generations of one Jewish American family, from the 1930s to the present.

Florence Fein grows up in Brooklyn in the 1930s, in a family that is gaining a foothold in the middle class. At City College she becomes engaged politically with the left-leaning student groups, and eventually, in the midst of the Depression, she takes a job with a trade organization that has a position for her in Moscow. There, she falls in love with another expatriate American and has a son. Soon after, Florence is sent to a work camp and her son to an orphanage.

The novel alternates between her story; the story of her son, Julian, from his time in the orphanage to his emigration to the States with his family as a Refusenik and his eventual return to Moscow as an oil executive to investigate his mother's past; and the story of Julian's son Lenny, an American entrepreneur who is excited about the financial opportunities to be found in the new Russian marketplace.

©2017 Sana Kraikov (P)2017 Recorded Books

Well worth the effort of the read

A long book and I found it a challenge to get through the first half of the book but the second half made the effort well worth it.

Excellent!

Long book, but well worth your time. Realistic depiction of life in the Soviet Union as well as a believable, flowing story.

Wonderful story...

...with lots of intrigue and insight into life in Russia during those years, but too long. Excellent writer!!

Cold War and Late Peace, or, A Tree Grows Far from Brooklyn

As LeCarre, the pressure of war and skullduggery shakes loose secrets of character. As a girl of the depression era young Florence Fein goes over to the USSR. The consequences wind through three generations. Krasikov shines among the brightest in the present surge of Russian emigré talents.

Point of View of characters, past and present collide

Well done! The changing characters and various points of view, in both the past and present day, was flawlessly done, culminating in a seamless collide of past and present. Loved it!

Eye opening!

This novel provides a clear-eyed -- and very sobering-- account of life in the USSR mostly in the 1930s-50s, and of the political idealism that propelled a significant number of Americans to move there then. It made me appreciate the US Constitution, but also left me dismayed by the callousness of the US government. Though I personally could not relate to most of the characters' travails, I felt tremendous empathy for the impossible choices they had to make, and I found the book compelling and hard to put down.

Meh. Mediocre book, terrible reading

I’m sad about how two of my favorite narrators failed miserably in this book. George Guidall usually is such an excellent reader but boy oh boy he did not measure up to some of the other books he’s narrated. Same with Suzanne Toren.

As for the book, I learned much about Soviet Russia and Communism, but again I think it would have been so much better with other narrators.

I’m pretty sure I’ll return it.