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The ending of this novel left me gasping, not just for the story itself, but for the ability of this author to pull all the threads together so skillfully and in such beautiful language. For the reviewers who gave up on this because it seemed to be disconnected short stories, you have done yourselves a disservice. The Kamchatka peninsula and the indigenous village of Esso just to the north of the large city where two sisters are kidnapped are brought to life, as are the women in both places struggling with work and relationships and raising children. I found their stories enthralling and sometimes heartbreaking, and not much different from women's lives in the U.S. The girl's kidnapping and the news surrounding it runs through every story, until about 1/3 of the way through you begin to get a sense that you need to pay more attention, there's more here than meets the eye.

This is a first novel by an author to watch for in the future. Just incredible.