The Siege

The author effectively captures the Siege of Leningrad and allows the reader to experience it through the eyes of Anna, a young woman who with her father, younger brother, her father's mistress, and a young man from Siberia are caught in the Seige. Some survive, some don't. The writing is clean and cold; sentences are short and direct. There is almost a lack of emotion throughtout the book (perhaps that is why some reviewers say they cannot connect with the characters), but the style of writing, I feel, is what makes "The Seige" so realistic. It was an unbelieveably terrible time for everyone; for the soldiers as well as the civilians. The author includes short chapters which provide a views from the "officials" or soldiers. This works to strengthen the story as told by Anna. I'm not up on my WWII history and truthfully, knew nothing about this particular event of the War; much of WWII historical fiction centers on the Holocaust. This story certainly adds another perspective of what was truly a terrible time in history. Warning, the story is not pretty, but it is not unbearable nor is it depressing. There is a strength and respect for those that endured this horrible time. For those interested in the Siege of Leningrad, check out The Madonnas of Leningrad: A Novel (P.S.)

"The Siege" is absolutely brilliant and Helen's Dunmore's masterpiece. How such a luminously crafted and finely imagined work of historical fiction can be overlooked in the annual book award stakes in favour of showier but less deserving titles is something presumably only those familiar with the internal politics of book critic awards can understand. "The Siege" is a story about a family who endured and partially survived the extremities of cold, hunger and other devastating hardships inflicted on the people of Leningrad when their city came under siege by the Germans in 1941. The horror of the opening transcript of German intent prepares us for what follows. The opening chapters describe the buzz of ordinary lives albeit under the tyranny of the country's own leadership. Nobody trusts anyone. Even neighbours stay away from those in suspect professions (eg, artists and journalists). But life was still good, you can smell the scent of flowers in the air and the natural aroma of fresh fruit and vegetables from the ground. All this will disappear when the Germans suddenly attack, supplies are cut off , the city is frozen solid, stocks run down and people are reduced to starvation and using their furniture and books as fuel for heating as winter encroaches. Scenes of how healthy adults and bonny children turn into emaciated skeletons, scrabble around for broken bits of wood, boil their leather belts for nutrients, etc will guarantee that you will never again leave any morsel of food uneatened on your dinner plate. We experience the siege of Leningrad through the lives of Anna and her family (her doctor lover Andrei, invalid writer father, his actress mistress Marina and baby brother Kolya). Dunmore's touch of feminism shows through in her vivid characterisation. The womenfolk are warriors compared to the men. Anna's courage and fortitude, Marina's quiet strength and compatriot Evgenia's irrepressable will to live make them unforgettable characters. They tower above the rest. Anna's feelings towards her father (she knows she's the defacto head of the family after her mother's death), her continuing ambivalence towards Marina, etc are all beautifully nuanced, reflecting Dunmore's uncommon grasp of the politics of human relationship. "The Siege" is a faultless, hugely powerful and emotionally resonant piece of work. Quite simply, it is contemporary literature at its finest and one of the best novels I have read in the past year.

This is a very powerful novel with striking, deeply affecting prose descriptions of the suffering of the people of Leningrad during the two and a half year siege they underwent at the hands of the Germans in WWII. Most of the focus is on the love and sacrifices of a mother for her son. I was a bit surprised that there seemed to be little actual fighting depicted here but in reality it was mostly a long seige with much bombing. The will to live becomes a noble pursuit in itself, the decision that death will not be on the Germans terms. Of course, much of the plot of the novel is about situations that are forced on people by the enemy and also by their own totalitarian government---but the small, tragic, and occasionally triumphant choices that people do make give the novel added meaning and power--they are not merely swept up in the tide of events--what Anatoli Rybakov called the Heavy Sand of 20th Century Russian history. This is recommended reading as is the long section on the siege of Leningrad in Alexander Werth's great WWII history, Russia at War.

This is a very dramatic and emotional story. The reader really cares about Anna, little Kolya, and the rest of her family as they struggle to survive this horrific ordeal. I was particularly moved by the way Anna reflects on the things that she once took for granted - her father reading poetry, cloudberry jam, bread that is fresh and plentiful. The author presents the unspeakable conditions of the siege of Leningrad while always holding out the thin breath of survival in the characters and makes us count our blessings in the bargain.I highly recommend this to any historical fiction reader.