A Constellation of Vital Phenomena: A Novel

Anthony Marra

May 2013 · Sold by Hogarth

About this eBook

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD • A searing debut about the transcendent power of love in wartime, hailed as “an absolute masterpiece” (Sarah Jessica Parker, Entertainment Weekly)—from the renowned author of Mercury Pictures Presents
 
“Extraordinary . . . a twenty-first century War and Peace.”—The New York Times Book Review

NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE JOHN LEONARD AWARD WINNER • ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal

In the final days of December 2004, in a small rural village in Chechnya, eight-year-old Havaa hides in the woods when her father is abducted by Russian forces. Fearing for her life, she flees with their neighbor Akhmed—a failed physician—to the bombed-out hospital, where Sonja, the one remaining doctor, treats a steady stream of wounded rebels and refugees and mourns her missing sister. Over the course of five dramatic days, Akhmed and Sonja reach back into their pasts to unravel the intricate mystery of coincidence, betrayal, and forgiveness that unexpectedly binds them and decides their fate.
 
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, Chicago Tribune, NPR, Kansas City Star, San Francisco Chronicle, The Christian Science Monitor, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Kirkus Reviews

Ratings and reviews

In a twist of irony, I am struggling to find the words to describe how outstanding this book is. It just may be the best book I've read in years- I can't recall another book that floored me as much as this one. Somehow, using fairly straightforward yet storytelling language, Marra managed to capture a breathtakingly vivid story. It took me up to ~ page 80 to get latched in and figure out the book's structure, but then I couldn't put it down despite it not being a mystery or thriller. I just needed to *know* the end- which, as it turns out, may be the best ending I've read since 100 Years of Solitude. If you read one book this year, read this one. It will reinvigorate your faith in literature and why we should continue to support new authors.

One of those novels that comes along every once in a generation.

Wow.

About the author

ANTHONY MARRA is the author of A Constellation of Vital Phenomena (2013), which won the National Book Critics Circle’s inaugural John Leonard Prize, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award in fiction, the Barnes and Noble Discover Award, and appeared on over twenty year-end lists. Marra’s novel was a National Book Award long list selection as well as a finalist for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize and France’s Prix Medicis. He received an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and was a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University, where he teaches as the Jones Lecturer in Fiction. He has lived and studied in Eastern Europe, and now resides in Oakland, California. His story collection, The Tsar of Love and Techno, is forthcoming from Hogarth (Fall 2015). Visit http://anthonymarra.net/