December 11, 2023 | Rome, Italy

The People’s Act of Love

By |2018-03-21T18:27:28+01:00September 1st, 2006|Recent Reviews|

By James Meek

Canongate U.S., 2006. 400 pages.

T

he strange and provocative epic novel takes the reader back to the beginning of the “ravaged century” barely behind us — Siberia in 1919. A straggling unit of Czech soldiers, an oddball religious sect, a widow, a shaman, and a mysterious escapee from a prison camp converge in a barren, distant outpost as Russia’s civil war rages on the horizon.

Their conflicting desires gradually become a struggle for a single soul pulled between the forces of fascism, communism, faith, reason, and anarchy. The story asks if any cause — even love — is tainted by a life sacrificed in its name.

About the Author:

Kate Swoger is too-rapidly approaching middle age. Following a young woman’s not-so-erotic journey from Montreal to Middle Europe, she settled in Toronto, where she works for CBC Radio. On her last birthday, she decided to write a short story for every month of the year, in an effort to become a published author. Her first story was recently printed in the Vancouver magazine Front, making her instantly immortal.