'The Time of Light' is a powerful novel about war and the pity of war. It begins as Markus, a former German soldier, seeks atonement from an Armenian priest for his part in the Nazi invasion of Russia. Captured at the Battle of Stalingrad, Markus never returned to Germany, but tried instead to work out his destiny in the country and among the people he feels he has desecrated. His two boyhood friends who fought with him and survive the battle take different paths, one going east to build bridges, the other returning to Germany to seek consolation at home. Overcome by grief and shame, Markus turns his back on everything, including his wife and son.
Framed by the 9-day Nagorno-Karabakh conflict of 1994 - the immediate cause of Markus's tears - 'The Time of Light' is skilfully created from a series of tales, tales of war and tales of women, that arise from Markus's conversations with the priest. It is a novel of striking contrasts - deep night riven by lightning flashes, where devastating scenes are etched with an incisive lyricism that leaves you reeling, yet always confident in the master-storyteller's gift.
Clear-eyed about the savagery of war, harrowing in its evocation of emotion, powerfully imaginative in its grasp something ineluctable in the human condition, 'The Time of Light' is a mesmerising novel.
