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Apr 07, 2016KateHillier rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Don't be scared off by the "stories" bit on the cover. Yes, this is a short stories collection but they are all connected. It really reads a lot more like a novel than a collection even if it is organized that way. Each story takes place during a different time period in whatever iteration of Russia/USSR is applicable for the time and they do all tie together at the end and it is fantastic. It starts with a man working in Stalin's regime as an art censor, airbrushing people out of photographs and paintings who have fallen out of favour. In response to his brother being arrested and executed, he begins painting his brother into the background of every picture that he has to censor. His actions, and one particular picture he works on, keeps reappearing throughout the book and the stories of the people and families of people he censored out of pictures also cycle back again and again. It is a very well done book. It also has some of the most quick witted writing I've seen since reading anything by Heather O'Neill. I found myself scrambling for bits of paper to stick in to the book to mark my favourite passages and lines for later since this is a library book I'm reading after all. This book will make you laugh but it will also make your chest tight. Highly, HIGHLY recommended.