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Danny Scheinmann
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Book
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Publisher | Doubleday | ||
ISBN | 9780385612616 | ||
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Reviewer
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Jayne
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Synopsis
1992: Leo Deakin wakes up in a hospital somewhere in South America, his girlfriend Eleni is dead and Leo doesn't know where he is or how Eleni died. He blames himself for the tragedy and is sucked into a spiral of despair. But Leo is about to discover something which will change his life forever. 1917: Moritz Daniecki is a fugitive from a Siberian POW camp. Seven thousand kilometres over the Russian Steppes separate him from his village and his sweetheart, whose memory has kept him alive through carnage and captivity. The Great War may be over, but Moritz now faces a perilous journey across a continent riven by civil war. When Moritz finally limps back into his village to claim the hand of the woman he left behind, will she still be waiting? Danny Scheinmann paints a dramatic portrait of two men sustaining their lives through the memory of love. Cinematic and brimming with raw emotions, it is the magnificent and emotive debut from a remarkable new writer.
Review
This is the most wonderful and compasionate book I have read in the last few weeks and months. I think that the genius of the author Danny Scheinmann is amazing in the way he has put this story together.
I felt for Leo as he woke up in a hospital bed and could not remember what had happened to him or even where he was. His story as it proceeded in the book is beautiful and heartfelt by all who will read it. I loved every minute of it and the desolation of his trauma and loss of his girl friend Eleni.
Then intertwined with Leo's story I found myself realising another story of some 80 years before set in the first world war and I could not see why we were reading about two such different stories except for the love that the soldier had for his girlfriend left at home when he went off to war. His will to survive the war was because he had promised to marry her if she would wait until he came home.
The two intertwined stories are divided up by different chapters in which some have most unusual drawings and diary entries which are set out within the pages, they are both poinant and yet seem to be the most wonderful way of imparting the love that both these charactors have for their partners.
I loved this book and felt the sentiments were not slopy but deeply inspiring and really are wondeful Random Acts of Heroism and Love. This is a wondeful first novel by Danny Sceinmann and I hope he gets to write many more because his style and writing are a pleasure to behold. Thank you for such a caring and loving book.
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