Tatiana and Alexander have suffered the worst the 20th century had to offer and have miraculously survived to be reunited in America, the land of their dreams. They have proved to each other that their love is greater than the vast evil of the world. They're young, they're beautiful, they have a son, Anthony, and – they're strangers.
To find each other again, to get back to a place where the stars were perfect, they begin a journey from sea to sea. But the ghosts of yesterday are far from quiet. Alexander cannot put the nightmares of the war behind him. Tatiana finds herself reliving her own early teenage years when, still surrounded by her family in the happiness of her summers in Luga, she was confronted for the first time with evil.
The struggle goes on. Anthony, their son, once a beacon of hope in their escape from the Soviet Union, comes of age in the tumultuous '60s. Both to follow in Alexander's footsteps and to rebel against Alexander's wishes, Anthony enlists to serve in Vietnam.
When Anthony goes missing in the mountainous jungle near Hué, Alexander and Tatiana finally confront everything they have kept hidden, everything they once were, everything they've become, and everything they've passed on to their son. Anthony is trapped in a fierce war with their old relentless enemy, and Tatiana and Alexander are unable to help him. Or are they?
Epic in scope, masterfully told, another big, bold and beautiful novel from an author of unique power.
