Perilous Beautiful World

A compelling, deeply felt, and expertly researched story about the nature of evil and the very human price of fighting back against impossible odds. Fans of historical fictions will love this novel.”—Kristin Hannah An exquisite historical odyssey about three ordinary people ensnared in World War I’s chaotic aftermath. Though strangers at first, their fates will entwine indelibly in their life-or-death quests for refuge, family, and meaning. Mathilde is a recently married young woman in a Russian shtetl south of Kyiv. Despite the ongoing hardships and violence, she is filled with hope for the life she is building with her new husband and prays the civil war roiling their country will soon end. But one afternoon a horrific event forces her from the only home she has ever known, and an epic journey begins. In frigid northern Russia, Michael is an American soldier working as an interpreter and translator. Dismayed that the troops there, who should have gone home after the armistice, are now caught up in Russia’s civil war, he angers his superior officer and is sent to the front lines.