The story of the forest: a novel

Fourteen-year-old Mina Mendel and her family live in relative comfort in their Latvian town. But when a group of young Bolsheviks arrive in the nearby forest, Mina's oldest brother, Jossel, persuades their parents that the siblings should head for America. Liverpool is as far as they get before WWI begins. Choices have been made, and consequences felt, but this new family tree might still have the chance to grow strong. Like a Grimm fairy tale, this story includes both unfortunate events and characters and characters making the best out of bad situations--not just surviving but thriving in tough times. Honest internal dialogue and the thoughtful structuring of lives intertwined over decades make this story feel as if a family history is being shared around Bubbe's kitchen table, and a sense of curiosity about the experience of immigration and assimilation will bring a deeper appreciation for individual characters. Fans of Isaac Bashevis Singer and Grace Paley or historical fiction readers looking for something a little different will want to give this book a try.

The engrossing latest from Grant (A Stranger City) revolves around a fateful chance encounter in the Latvian woods. Mina Mendel, 14, is foraging for mushrooms on the eve of WWI when she stumbles upon a band of Bolsheviks. Back home, she rhapsodizes to her older brother Jossel about the soldiers' dancing and singing, prompting Jossel to worry she'll spoil her virtue. She sneaks back to the Bolsheviks and kisses one of them before Jossel arranges to take her overseas for a better life in the U.S., leaving behind their parents and three other siblings. In England, she and Jossel are waylaid by the war, and they settle in Brownlow Hill, where Mina marries Louis, a soldier. The novel's second section, set shortly after WWII, follows Mina and Louis's daughter, Paula, who works at a London film studio and whose boss is captivated by Mina's story of the Bolsheviks in the forest and plans to make a movie about her life. Grant's omniscient narration turns over dark corners of the story (the reader learns the boy soldier Mina kissed was killed and eaten by wolves), and she cleverly injects commentary on the family's trajectory as the narrative unfolds. Readers are in for a treat. Agent: Gráinne Fox, UTA. (Nov.)

In this offbeat historical epic, a prosperous Jewish family from Latvia reinvents itself when it's divided by 20th-century realities and differing dreams of success. The catalyst for the Mendel family's uprooting is an encounter 14-year-old Mina has in the woods, where she goes to gather mushrooms. In fairy tale--like fashion, she encounters instant danger in the form of a group of Bolshevik boys whose cocky presence excites her. After her older brother Jossel learns that she kissed one of them, he whisks her away from Riga, leaving the rest of their family behind, to keep their father from forcing Mina into an arranged marriage. Jossel and Mina hope to go to America, but after World War I thwarts those plans, they settle in a mostly friendly Jewish community in Liverpool, by which time Jossel has been roped into marriage by a woman he met on the ship that took them there. Soon enough, Jossel leaves his wife for another woman, and lonely Mina impetuously marries a bland fellow whose life her brother saved while off fighting the war. We then follow Mina's daughter, Paula, as she attempts to hide her Jewish identity, act like a privileged Brit, and lose her virginity. Only belatedly, we learn what became of Mina and Jossel's bad-sheep brother, Itzik, who embraced the USSR in his quest for power, and their ill-fated parents. Shifting styles to reflect shifting times, Grant flirts with soap opera and R-rated noir. Acting as a leitmotif, the story of Mina's adventures in the forest gets passed down as oral history, ultimately becoming a movie. Those looking for romance in this saga, or much in the way of reflection as the nonstop narrative motors on, will be disappointed. But the undercurrent of menace and refusal to indulge in sentimentality should appeal to readers looking for something different. A novel that makes up for its lack of depth with sharp storytelling. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Fourteen-year-old Mina Mendel and her family live in relative comfort in their Latvian town. But when a group of young Bolsheviks arrive in the nearby forest, Mina's oldest brother, Jossel, persuades their parents that the siblings should head for America. Liverpool is as far as they get before WWI begins. Choices have been made, and consequences felt, but this new family tree might still have the chance to grow strong. Like a Grimm fairy tale, this story includes both unfortunate events and characters and characters making the best out of bad situations—not just surviving but thriving in tough times. Honest internal dialogue and the thoughtful structuring of lives intertwined over decades make this story feel as if a family history is being shared around Bubbe's kitchen table, and a sense of curiosity about the experience of immigration and assimilation will bring a deeper appreciation for individual characters. Fans of Isaac Bashevis Singer and Grace Paley or historical fiction readers looking for something a little different will want to give this book a try. Copyright 2024 Booklist Reviews.

The engrossing latest from Grant (A Stranger City) revolves around a fateful chance encounter in the Latvian woods. Mina Mendel, 14, is foraging for mushrooms on the eve of WWI when she stumbles upon a band of Bolsheviks. Back home, she rhapsodizes to her older brother Jossel about the soldiers' dancing and singing, prompting Jossel to worry she'll spoil her virtue. She sneaks back to the Bolsheviks and kisses one of them before Jossel arranges to take her overseas for a better life in the U.S., leaving behind their parents and three other siblings. In England, she and Jossel are waylaid by the war, and they settle in Brownlow Hill, where Mina marries Louis, a soldier. The novel's second section, set shortly after WWII, follows Mina and Louis's daughter, Paula, who works at a London film studio and whose boss is captivated by Mina's story of the Bolsheviks in the forest and plans to make a movie about her life. Grant's omniscient narration turns over dark corners of the story (the reader learns the boy soldier Mina kissed was killed and eaten by wolves), and she cleverly injects commentary on the family's trajectory as the narrative unfolds. Readers are in for a treat. Agent: Gráinne Fox, UTA. (Nov.)