I couldn’t put this book down, and I learned so much history and geography of the post Soviet Caucuses, specifically Georgia and the territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. 

The story takes place in 2010 when twenty-something Saba travels to Tbilisi, Georgia in search of his brother and father. The family had to flee to London as refugees after the Soviet Union fell apart in 1991 and Georgia became steeped in civil war. They spent the next 10 years trying to get their mom, Eka, out, sending money via a corrupt agent. Never seeing her boys again, she died of a heart attack still in Tbilisi. 

This prompts Irakli, the boys’ dad, to return to Tbilisi 15+ years after escaping to search for answers. Where did the money he sent go? Why didn’t Eka ever make it out? When Irakli does not communicate with the boys, each of them tries to find him, first Sandro, the eldest, and then Saba, who begins looking for both of them, which becomes a journey of breadcrumb messages that Saba follows, while also learning that his father was being chased by the local Tbilisi police.

So the story becomes a bit of a mystery: Irakli running from the Georgian law and Sandro following his trail and Saba trying to find them both. The most interesting and central character in this hunt is Nodar, a Tbilisi taxi driver who helps Saba but who is existing in his own veil of grief. Long after the Soviet Union fell apart and he was raising his family in South Ossetia (a semi independent territory within Georgia), the 2008 Russo-Georgian war broke out, and Nodar and his wife became separated from their young daughter who was left behind in South Ossetia while Nodar and Keti were forced to flee into greater Georgia. With the border into South Ossetia sealed off, they never saw their daughter again. 

So when Saba finds out that his dad has left Ushguli in Northern Georgia and is heading to South Ossetia, he and Nodar and Dmitri, an Ushgili resident, attempt the dangerous cross into South Ossetia to find the people dearest to them.

Really great characters, a lot of truth based history, and page-turning action propel this story. A few details/motifs get a bit redundant (like the phrase “a guest is a gift from God” which is repeated too often), but they are easy to overlook.

Wow. I highly recommend this book. You’ll need Wikipedia nearby–there’s LOTS of geography and history to look up.