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Magnifico! This had me shaking my head in awe. Anyone who knows me knows I dislike the short stories - they usually leave me only wanting more, hence, I rarely pick them up. This one, having been purchased after I read the beloved,A Constellation of Vital Phenomena, I knew I had to get to as this author has talent.

Ah such raw talent. This is a collection of stories that weaves into it people depicted from a painting. It begins in the 1930's, in communist Russia, with a failed artist who now censors art but instead of erasing those dissidents one of whom is his brother, he adds him into every picture he touches leaving it as his signature.
The stories are interconnected with this painting. We become witnesses to the atrocities of war, death, poverty, what one has to do in order to survive. The tragedies and violence suffered in an oppressed country during times of war and times of communist rule. The stories span decades and into the next century.

Such descriptive and atmospheric writing. From the shocking scenes of death and destruction to joyous moments of gratitude "like a sunny day swim in a chemical waste." The language extaordinaire.

Beautifully crafted -Marra remains a force of the written word in a world that we have so few stories attached to. 4.25⭐️