by Sana Krasikov
Published January 24 2017 by Siegel & Grau
Finished 2/7/17
The Patriots is a beautifully inspired epic of Florence Fein from Brooklyn, a career girl of Russian Jewish descent. Her job takes her to Cleveland to assist with a business deal between her American employer and a Russian company. Smitten with one of the Russians, she eventually trails him to the homeland. This begins her long story recounting the years 1932-1934 and up in Russia, turbulent years to put it mildly. She and her Jewish husband come through WWII virtually unscathed, safer there from persecution than perhaps anywhere else. But they are in Russia and so it does not remain safe for long. They are soon arrested for espionage and their little boy placed in an orphanage.
I much enjoyed Florence's story, alternated with a narration from her son Julian, who became an American. There was a third story of Julian's son Lenny, who resides in Moscow, and a visit from Julian, which I felt added very little to the story and almost, in fact, ruined it all for me. The book is over 500 pages and jumps around a great deal between countries and between timelines. This is a lethal combination for me and I felt like giving up on it many times. I'm glad to have finished though because it turned out to be a lesson in loyalties, faith, forgiveness, perseverance, promises kept, and much more.
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