Description:
In this World War II historical novel set during the harrowing siege of Leningrad, Daniil Aslanov, a docent at the Hermitage Museum, gives tours of empty frames. As the city starves, he battles a secret shame, while his grandfather--a persecuted Orthodox priest exiled to the Gulag--clings to faith. Beautifully told and based on real historical events, including the extraordinary wartime tours of the Hermitage's empty galleries, The Prodigal of Leningrad is a stirring and unforgettable story of human resilience, and a profound meditation on art, faith, forgiveness and healing.
Brief description:
Formerly a professor of literature and writing, Daniel Taylor has published books on a a wide range of topics from informal apologetics, to books to the role of stories in shaping our lives to Celtic Christianity. He is the author of the four-novel John Mote mystery series, beginning with Death Comes for the Deconstructionist and concluding with The Mystery of Iniquity. He collaborated on several Bible translations, including the New Living Translation and The Expanded Bible. Taylor is co-founder of The Legacy Center, an organization devoted to helping individuals and organizations identify and preserve the values and stories that have shaped their lives. He was a contributing editor of Books and Culture. Taylor is married and the father of four adult children.
Review Quotes:
"Daniil Aslanov is a docent at Russia's Hermitage Museum, but instead of guiding tours through rooms full of paintings, he leads visitors through barren galleries whose walls are lined with empty frames. It's 1941, and the siege of Leningrad is underway, so the museum's treasures have been hidden away from the approaching Nazi troops. Though it is in storage, Danil can't help but think of his favorite painting in the collection, Rembrandt's The Return of the Prodigal Son, whose themes of repentance and forgiveness parallel the novel's. Taylor (a literature professor and author of the John Mote mystery series) intertwines Daniil's story with that of the man's grandfather, an Orthodox priest who has survived decades in the gulag. As the people of Leningrad face starvation under their oppressors, Danil is also tormented by a guilty secret, while his grandfather finds the strength to endure in his faith. Taylor's elegantly simple prose is compelling, and his attention to detail is the work of an expert storyteller. Toward the novel's end, in an account of a performance of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7 ("The Leningrad Symphony") and its effect on the musicians and their audience, Taylor bears witness to the power of art to resist oppression.
VERDICT An unforgettable book that will resonate with readers of World War Il historical fiction." - Library Journal starred review
"A man's reverence for art leads to wartime defiance in the enchanting historical novel The Prodigal of Leningrad. When the Nazis invade Leningrad, Daniil, a widower and volunteer docent, witnesses the State Hermitage Museum remove treasures to prevent their theft. Despite Stalinist propaganda, Daniil still believes that art is "the highest expression of the human spirit." In time, he begins to share the stories behind the missing art on tours of their empty frames. Told with fabulistic clarity that draws on its characters' moral stances, the novel alternates between Daniil and his grandfather, who was a priest imprisoned in a gulag. Both men reject materialism and share a love for Rembrandt. Quiet in their refutation of harsh regimes, they persist in their dangerous interests, including art and, for Daniil's grandfather, his unwavering faith. As the siege in Leningrad advances, Daniil recalls his past. He plays chess with a sardonic friend, endures bread lines, and supports the Hermitage. Taut vignettes focused on Daniil's neighbors and the priest's fellow prisoners, who rely on his spiritual guidance despite punishment, suggest philosophical questions about endurance and justice. These sketches coalesce into a moving exploration of what it costs to uphold Christian virtues, including truth and beauty. Though the story includes executions and bombings, its brutality is mitigated by its evenhanded tone and understated prose. Effusive descriptions of a Shostakovich symphony and Rembrandt's painting of the prodigal son also exist in contrast to the grimness. Daniil is surprised to see how people respond to atrocities: Some exhibit stoic humor; others develop resolve, pursuing art even while starving. While surviving a war may be instinctive, he learns, it's also rooted in the hope for redemption. In the luminous historical novel The Prodigal of Leningrad, two men face Soviet hardships with courage." --Foreword Reviews
"Art, literature, history, family, friendship, and faith are skillfully intertwined in this remarkable novel set in 1940s Leningrad, a city of profound cultural and historical significance. Daniel Taylor makes the events that mark the city to this day come alive, holding readers' attention right to the heartwarming closing pages of dialogue. Put composer Dmitri Shostakovach's "Leningrad Symphony" on in the background as you dive into this compelling work by a master storyteller. Highly recommended!" --Jeff Crosby, author of World of Wonders: A Spirituality of Reading "In The Prodigal of Leningrad, Daniel Taylor has given us a story rich in history, layered in complex characters, and one that pulls at every emotional heartstring. This one deserves that large cup of tea C. S. Lewis was always in search of." --Eva Marie Everson, Bestselling Author, Ahoti: A Story of Tamar"Yet through the story of one man, he [Taylor] wants to answer the question that so many have asked about every tragedy in human history: Where is God in this? His answer, involving great art and presented in the form of a work of art - a novel - is a beautiful example of the value of distinctly Christian art and literature in this day and age." --Nadya Williams, Religion & Liberty Online
"Taylor has 'gone to school' with the Russian masters and made their distinctive trademarks his own." --John Wilson, First Things
"The Prodigal of Leningrad is the most profound and moving novel I have read/heard in many years. This novel is the highwater mark of recent American fiction, and certainly the best novel by a Christian writer in America for a very long time. The audiobook narrator is a great match for the narrative voice. Grandfather Anatoli/ Father Sergius is a triumph of the rarest kind in fiction--an entirely persuasive representation of sanctity and spiritual realism. This is an achievement, an offering up, which all who read or hear this work will be thankful for, and it will stay in memory, as all great works do." --David Lyle Jeffrey, FRSC, Resident Distinguished Professor, Baylor Institute for Studies in Religion and Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Literature and the Humanities at Baylor University