![]() ![]() ![]() A Constellation of Vital Phenomena will be published May 7. In this excerpt, Sonja has just returned from London to Chechnya, where she hopes she will find her missing sister. It's a war story like you've never read before. Humans can do terrible things to one another, but in this book they are capable of shocking devotion as well. The action takes place over only a couple days, but the stories span lifetimes. Do you inform on your neighbors to save your father? Do you expend your energies protecting your dying wife? In both places the people living in this war-torn land are faced with terrible decisions. The novel moves back and forth from the village to the hospital. There is only one doctor left at the hospital, the tough but overworked Sonja Rabina. They know his young daughter, Havaa, is hiding in the yard, and once the police are gone, a kind neighbor takes Havaa into the city, hoping the hospital will take her in. His neighbors watch as the police grab him from his house and burn it to the ground. The story begins with the disappearance of a man named Dokka. In short, it's not an obvious place for Anthony Marra to set his stunning new novel, but it works. It might not even be the country you're picturing as you read this. Until last week, when the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings were revealed to be Chechen, you might not have spent much time thinking about Chechnya. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. Close overlay Buy Featured Book Title A Constellation Of Vital Phenomena Author Anthony Marra ![]()
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