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Hard by a Great Forest: A Novel Hardcover – January 30, 2024
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"The stakes could barely be higher in Leo Vardiashvili’s propulsive page-turner…It’s a spellbinding achievement."—The Financial Times
“Has a commercial-fiction spring in its step.… Vardiashvili also has captured the winking, world-weary humor and magic-realist touches that mark a lot of literature from Europe’s war-torn corners.” —Los Angeles Times
"This novel annihilated me.... Left my heart bruised and battered and aching for more." —Khaled Hosseini, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Kite Runner
“Tender and raw and funny.” —Colum McCann, National Book Award winning author of Let the Great World Spin
"Propulsive, funny, and profound."—Elif Batuman, Pulitzer Prize finalist and bestselling author of The Idiot
“A book like no other, from an imagination like no other.” —Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Less Is Lost
Amid rubble and rebuilding in a former Soviet land, one family must rescue one another and put the past to rest: a stirring novel about what happens after the fighting is over
Saba is just a child when he flees the fighting in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia with his older brother, Sandro, and father, Irakli, for asylum in England. Two decades later, all three men are struggling to make peace with the past, haunted by the places and people they left behind.
When Irakli decides to return to Georgia, pulled back by memories of a lost wife and a decaying but still beautiful homeland, Saba and Sandro wait eagerly for news. But within weeks of his arrival, Irakli disappears, and the final message they receive from him causes a mystery to unfold before them: “I left a trail I can’t erase. Do not follow it.”
In a journey that will lead him to the very heart of a conflict that has marred generations and fractured his own family, Saba must retrace his father’s footsteps to discover what remains of their homeland and its people. By turns savage and tender, compassionate and harrowing, Hard by a Great Forest is a powerful and ultimately hopeful novel about the individual and collective trauma of war, and the indomitable spirit of a people determined not only to survive, but to remember those who did not.
- Print length352 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherRiverhead Books
- Publication dateJanuary 30, 2024
- Dimensions6.34 x 1.15 x 9.3 inches
- ISBN-100593545036
- ISBN-13978-0593545034
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From the Publisher
![Left my heart bruised and battered and aching for more, says Khaled Hosseini](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/S/aplus-media-library-service-media/17bca6ac-90ce-4308-adae-e7ecb30b5390.__CR0,0,970,300_PT0_SX970_V1___.jpg)
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“Vardiashvili’s heartbreaking debut novel lays bare the effects that displacement can have over generations and illuminates the resilience of those who have suffered and still found their way to happiness.”—The Washington Post
“Cunning and unstinting, humanist and self-aware…Evoke[s] a thorough understanding of war, escape and violence… reflecting the cyclical nature of familial death and individual reconstitution. The unstable way we return home.”—The New York Times
“Has a commercial-fiction spring in its step.… Vardiashvili also has captured the winking, world-weary humor and magic-realist touches that mark a lot of literature from Europe’s war-torn corners.” —The Los Angeles Times
"The stakes could barely be higher in Leo Vardiashvili’s propulsive page-turner… [Vardiashvili’s] sprawling narrative, part comic, part tragic, abounds in mysteries, monsters, magic and terrors. It’s a spellbinding achievement."—The Financial Times
“Smart and gamesome.”—Wall Street Journal
“This debut novel captures both the long scars of collective trauma and the indomitable spirit of those determined to remember and survive.”—Oprah Daily
"When we land in Tbilisi with Saba we are in a fairy tale world, though one redrawn by Kafka. . . And what a tale it is. . .what makes this story so spellbinding, is what happens along the way."—Minneapolis Star-Tribune
“Gripping . . .Hard by a Great Forest is thrilling and blackly humorous, but it is also a poignant book, one that has considerable resonance today. . . powerful.”—The Economist
"Beguiling… Vivid, nostalgia-tinged images are littered throughout Leo Vardiashvili’s moving debut… Vardiashvili mixes a breezy tone with glinting lyricism."—The Sunday Times
"A playful and sinister narrative about two siblings sent to the woods by their father… a treasure hunt through Georgian culture."—Times Literary Supplement
"A compelling novel about war, family separation and ambivalent homecoming, its tale of sacrifice, guilt and betrayal is propelled by dark mysteries and offset by glorious shafts of humour… heart-wrenching and comic… Novels such as this might help light the way."—The Guardian
"Both a thrilling mystery-adventure hybrid and the sort of war-devastated drama that leaves your chest heaving, all folded into one precious debut."—Elle
“Vardiashvili keeps readers invested with the grit and generous spirit of his characters….a great read, full of history, mystery and chance reunions that asks the reader to examine how we can move forward when we’re followed by the ghosts of the past.”—BookPage
“Vardiashvili’s amazing and poignant tale of loss and resilience draws readers in with compelling descriptions of land and place. Saba encounters horrid acts of violence or their aftermath, but he also finds beauty, even magic and mystery. A remarkable debut.”—Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW
“Heartrending, beautifully crafted. . .Laced with humor and insights similar to those of Gary Shteyngart and Jonathan Safran Foer, this is a sweeping, ambitious, and almost unbelievably assured debut. Exploring the long shadow of trauma cast by any war, Vardiashvili's novel pummels the reader with an emotional force that few can match.” —Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
"[A] spectacular debut. . .The tense plot ups the ante from one narrow escape to the next, and Vardiashvili layers his seamless blend of genres (police thriller, fairy tale quest, coming-of-age story) with lush depictions of Georgia’s landscape, culture, and resilient people. This will leave readers breathless.”—Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
"An unforgettable aria to a lost homeland, full of anger, sorrow, and longing."—Kirkus, STARRED REVIEW
"Lushly haunted debut...Fans of Téa Obreht's The Tiger's Wife will feel right at home."—Shelf Awareness
"Movingly evokes the complicated feelings of trying to recapture and redefine what home looks and feels like. Vardiashvili doesn't shy away from depicting the violence and trauma that still roil under the surface of Tbilisi's shiny new cityscape — or that boil over in the disputed territory of Ossetia. But he also describes the unfailing generosity and hospitality of its people."—Bookreporter
"This novel annihilated me. I gasped, laughed, and wept my way through it. Rich with irony and animated with astonishing humanity, this tale of a young Georgian refugee’s odyssey into his birthplace to rescue family left my heart bruised and battered and aching for more." —Khaled Hosseini, author of #1 New York Times bestseller The Kite Runner
“This novel blows open the heart of the past. It's a mystery, it's a picaresque, it's a comedy, and it's an authentic song of belonging and unbelonging. Tender and raw and funny, it's a rattling good read about the loss of home and the primacy of story-telling. By turns political and philosophical, it introduces a fine new voice in contemporary fiction.”—Colum McCann, National Book Award winning author of Let the Great World Spin
"A wildly charming debut—propulsive, funny, and profound."—Elif Batuman, Pulitzer Prize finalist and bestselling author of The Idiot
“Astonishingly crafted with history, candor, beauty, grief and just a little magic. A book like no other, from an imagination like no other. Vardiashvili has written a triumph.” —Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize winning author ofLess Is Lost
“Profoundly moving and rich with humor and heartbreak, Hard by a Great Forest mesmerized me from the very first page. It will capture your heart.” —Jean Kwok,New York Times bestselling author of Girl in Translation
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Riverhead Books (January 30, 2024)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 352 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0593545036
- ISBN-13 : 978-0593545034
- Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.34 x 1.15 x 9.3 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #80,034 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,011 in Family Life Fiction (Books)
- #6,258 in Literary Fiction (Books)
- #9,440 in Historical Fiction (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
![Leo Vardiashvili](https://cdn.statically.io/img/m.media-amazon.com/images/I/01Kv-W2ysOL._SY600_.png)
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In the story, two brothers Sabo and Sandro flee with their father, Irakli and end up in England where they find asylum. The boys were young and kept asking their father when their mother was coming. Irakli and their mother are divorced, but he spends his days working tirelessly to try to earn enough money to bring her to England. Eventually, Irakli returns to Georgia. The sons are now in their 20s and receive a letter from Irakli shortly after returning to Georgia, and he says that he cannot return to them. Both boys return to Georgia and to find him and also look for their mother as well. Their odyssey ironically takes them to their native country, which does not feel like home, in search of a father who does not appear to want to be found. As I have read many memoirs of refugees, it was the familiar wrestling of returning “home” to a country that should feel like “home” but does not; it is a feeling of homelessness and being lost, not belonging anywhere. 😭
I did listen to this as an audiobook, and I highly recommend the audio version! The author connects the story with many stories from literature, the title is taken from a line from “Hansel and Gretel,” and I found that an interesting interwoven aspect throughout the book. Also, Sabo hears a voice speaking to him throughout the book, which was easy to follow in the 🎧 because of the voice change by the narrator. I would be curious how that is depicted in the physical book. The first part of the book was a slow build, but once Sabo arrives in Georgia, I could not stop listening. This was a book that was heart-wrenching to read but glad that I read it.
Note 🎵: war, murder, guns, language, refugee/families separated because of war
This is not an easy read. It's emotional and talks of the terrible losses of war.
It's also a little confusing- the main character hears voices. It's hard to know if he's schizophrenic or just having a momentary PTSD situation, but the confusing voices do lend to the confusion the main character has to go through.
Overall, very happy I read it, though it was slow going.
There were entire chapters I held my breath through. And I may never completely get over some of the twists at the end.
I knew nothing about the history of Georgia. And now I need to know more and go visit.
I may have been so deeply effected by this novel because I'm living through a war right now, and I had almost forgotten that other regions of the world go through difficult times as well.
Sometimes life just sucks but you can't run away from your destiny.
The NYT reviewer was a bit critical of the language in the novel, calling it purple prose and implying it was a bit over the top. But I loved the descriptiveness and flowery language. I thought it was beautiful.
One of those very rare books that I wish I could forget so I could have the pleasure of rediscovering for the first time.
Top reviews from other countries
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My excitement was cut short and even though I invested time and effort I did not cross 100 pages and then only read briefly across each page till the end.
What was missing for me?
The characters were poorly developed. I never got a real sense of why the characters behaved as they did. The humor is pretty flat and usually not very insightful. The dialogues between main character and Nodar do not really bring the story forward but rather keep the story stuck at where ever they are in the story. The ending for him is written just as his life and comes as no surprise.
Nothing from the first 100pages I truely read resonates with me.
It never touches me in any way and that even though there is great material for family drama in it. 😕
I am really sorry to write this. But don’t lose your head about this reference of mine. All great writers write lots and lots of books before they really hit the masses and touch the heart ❤️