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A tense, darkly funny, and politically resonant novel of life under authoritarian rule.
Romania, 1989, the twilight of Ceausescu's dictatorship: A time when every neighbor, every friend, every family member may be an informant for the regime. When news emerges of a man-eating bear terrorizing the country, two bright lives collide. Constantin, an idealistic police detective―prone to daydreaming and scribbling fairytales in his notebook for his four-year-old son―is tasked with solving the string of mysterious deaths. Lia, a rebellious, inquisitive schoolgirl pining for more color in her life, is unwittingly drawn into an elderly neighbor's secret plot against the regime. The decisions they make amid the constant gray skies and fear of speaking out will have sweeping consequences―for themselves, for their families, and for their country. Astronaut! is a chilling, suspenseful, and resonant tale by a dynamic new novelist.
"[A] splendid novel...A stirring ode to the goodness that persists despite humanity's cruelty." —Publishers Weekly
"A political satire captures the spirit of Marx meeting the Marx Brothers." —Kirkus Reviews
"Astronaut! is a compulsive and thrilling story of life in a dictatorship." ―Alice Winn, author of In Memoriam
"A brilliant, funny, moving novel set in 1980s Romania. It's a gripping page-turner but more than any other book I've read, it gives a real sense of what it means to live under a totalitarian regime: the lies you must tell and the lies you must accept in order to survive―and what happens when you try to hold onto the truth. Aristide recreates this time so vividly, revealing the cruel deadening effects of dictatorship on ordinary people, its surreality and pettiness. It's shocking to remember this is recent history; Aristide's portrayal of a regime that insists on its own truth is a powerful and pertinent one. One of the best novels I've read this year." ―Joanna Quinn, author of The Whalebone Theatre
This information about Astronaut! was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Oana Aristide was born in Transylvania and spent her childhood in communist Romania. She has variously worked as a macroeconomist in London, cabinet advisor in Bucharest, travel journalist and hotelier in Greece. She now lives in Sweden.
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