February 2017 Host: Jennie
City of Thieves by David Benioff
Summary
This story takes place in the besieged
city of Leningrad in 1941 and focuses on the relationship between an
intelligent 17-year old Jewish boy and a worldly and handsome college boy. They are arrested by the Germans for looting
and other crimes and are given a reprieve from execution if they can complete
one task. Their mission is an impossible
one: finding a dozen eggs for a
colonel’s daughter’s wedding cake during the blockade of Leningrad and its
subsequent famine. Their travels take
them through a nightmarish odyssey through a freezing countryside populated
with cannibals, starving children, and prostitutes. At times funny and often terrifying, the
author is able to blend humor with the grisly aspects of war and produces an
engaging page turner. Highly
recommended.
I forgot to snap a few pictures at this book club gathering, I was probably having too much fun!