When the Doves Disappeared

Starred review from January 19, 2015
During and after the Second World War, the boundaries and power structures of Europe changed dramatically. In this fourth novel, Oksanen, who has won the Swedish Academy Nordic Prize and Budapest Grand Prize, traces those changes through the lives of one Estonian family. Focusing mostly on Roland's passion for a free Estonia, Juudith's quest to be cherished, and Edgar's machinations, Oksanen's characters must navigate the ever-changing political landscape that means danger for everyone, especially those who, like Edgar, lust for power and recognition. The fragmented narrative, adeptly translated by Rogers, switches between the Third Reich and the height of Soviet power, using these two time periods to make ideal use of dramatic irony, to render understandable collusion with the enemy as well as portray its consequences, and to evoke sympathy for a man whose ambition leads him to commit terrible atrocities. Oksanen manages to relate these stories without horror or judgment, and reminds the reader that, whatever else people in wartime may do, they are human creatures, and not the one-dimensional monsters that history makes them seem to be. Agent: Salomonsson Agency.