"This remarkable novel, hidden from the English speaking world for more than 50 years, begins with the Red Army invasion of Belarus (then a part of Poland) in 1939. Ivan Kulik has just become headmaster of School Number 7 in Hlaby, a rural village in the Pinsk Marshes. Through his eyes we witness the tragedy of Stalinist domination, where people are randomly deported to labor camps or tortured in Zovy Kazarny Prison in the center of Pinsk ... Ivan's passion for Marusia, a green-eyed, unpredictable young woman, is a theme throughout the book."
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