The Eighth Life : (for Brilka) The International Bestseller

Rating: 4 (9 votes)

Tags: Set in Georgia Female author

Description:

AN OBSERVER BOOK OF THE YEAR ‘That night Stasia took an oath, swearing to learn the recipe by heart and destroy the paper. And when she was lying in her bed again, recalling the taste with all her senses, she was sure that this secret recipe could heal wounds, avert catastrophes, and bring people happiness. But she was wrong.’ At the start of the twentieth century, on the edge of the Russian Empire, a family prospers. It owes its success to a delicious chocolate recipe, passed down the generations with great solemnity and caution. A caution which is justified: this is a recipe for ecstasy that carries a very bitter aftertaste … Stasia learns it from her Georgian father and takes it north, following her new husband, Simon, to his posting at the centre of the Russian Revolution in St Petersburg. Stasia’s is only the first in a symphony of grand but all too often doomed romances that swirl from sweet to sour in this epic tale of the red century. Tumbling down the years, and across vast expanses of longing and loss, generation after generation of this compelling family hears echoes and sees reflections. Great characters and greater relationships come and go and come again; the world shakes, and shakes some more, and the reader rejoices to have found at last one of those glorious old books in which you can live and learn, be lost and found, and make indelible new friends.

Reviews:

Audrey Morris (10 months ago)	04 Dec, 2024 Read 11 Oct 20
Boom Mcnamara (7 months ago)	02 Mar, 2025 I loved it!
Kelly0102 (6 months ago)	27 Mar, 2025 REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS! This is an epic sob story, so devoid of any redemption it’s nearly impossible to finish without wanting to take a knife to humanity end it all for our own benefit. In my view the main issue is the character Kostya. A man who feels that no one else can compare to him. No one can be hurt by love the way he is, no one can suffer loss the way he does, no one is as moral as he is, and on and on. He is someone who cheats on his wife with young, easy (and probably scared) girls and then can’t believe his daughter would end up like one of those girls. He blames everyone for every perceived wrong in his life and never looks in the mirror. He is so devoid of any redeeming quality that his presence sours the entire book. The same can also be said of the narrator of the story. She is blindly ignorant of everything that doesn’t immediately affect her. I find this complete lack a awareness irksome.