The Eighth Life: (for Brilka) The International Bestseller Paperback – 12 November 2020

#BOOKREVIEWThe Eighth Life is not a book but a well curated string of 940 page laced emotions spanning through eight women's lives in a century of revolution and despair. Before reading the book, to me Georgia was the red-country, a war-torn country of turmoil, but now as the historical fiction unfolded I came to know a lot more about the people and their happiness as well as the struggle. It's not the story of Brilka but how the girl came into existence, Brilka the gifted girl of the Jashi's.The story of Jashi family is divided into 7(8) parts which is narrated by a family member of the same. The narrative is very interesting if one loves history, as the tale spans through Bolshevik revolution, Stalin's purge along with the infamous gulags and brutality infested on the people of Georgia, initially by NKVD while transitioning to KGB.There is a recipe of enticing chocolate, a secret treasure of Jashi family, with extraordinary properties, which said to have some curse have played a very poignant role throughout the book.I absolutely love multi-generational saga and I cannot easily describe how moved I am by the brilliant and compelling translation by Ruth Martin and Charlotte Collins. I am a speed reader but I read it very slowly, loving each and every words like an addict. Trust me, I didn't want this book to end (It took me 18 days)!After War And Peace I found myself immersed into the pages of The Eighth Life, and surprisingly, this book seems like the continuation of the story of Russia which ended in the last page of War And Peace. This book is engrossing, engaging and the characters are very relatable. The friendship between Stasia and Thekla, Stasia and Sopio are something I will crave throughout my life.And, if you think The Thousand Splendid Suns made you cringe because of the truth of the sad brutal world, you are wrong. Give yourself a dose of The Eighth Life, it's worthy of our emotions.The narrator, Niza, describes the red-century as “a century that cheated and deceived everyone, all those who hoped.”

The best book I have read recently

Readers will be taken aback on knowing that the fifth generation of the very family is narrating what they have seen amongst their family, the good or bad behind the delightful chocolate mystery and so more which added extra essence to the plot. I was bleeding to pain and emotions when I understood the entire narration took place at such a place which was very close to near death.The romances were like brewing in the air throughout the book and the characters were so well portrayed that I never felt a bored reading lot more on them.Thanks to our author who has taken lots of effort and handwork to put all these elements along with war and pace to make this book no less than a masterpiece. Apt to call out this book as a Russian saga or a journey through crests and troughs and finally ending up to some surprises.

An amazing storyteller! Nino Haratischvili is a young Georgian woman who writes in both Georgian and German since the age of 12. In this 900 page saga, she writes about the history of the USSR/Russia/Georgia over the 20th Century through the stories of 5 generations of a family that lived through that period! I really enjoyed this book that has woven the personal histories of some amazing characters together with the political histories of the countries where they lived.

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All the pages of the last chapter missing.

I received an incomplete book. Book VIII is missing. What a careless mistake!

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