Full Description*
Tom Rob Smith-the author whose debut, Child 44, has been called "brilliant" (Chicago Tribune), "remarkable" (Newsweek) and "sensational" (Entertainment Weekly)-returns with an intense, suspenseful new novel: a story where the sins of the past threaten to destroy the present, where families must overcome unimaginable obstacles to save their loved ones, and where hope for a better tomorrow is found in the most unlikely of circumstances . . .
THE SECRET SPEECH
Soviet Union, 1956. Stalin is dead, and a violent regime is beginning to fracture-leaving behind a society where the police are the criminals, and the criminals are innocent. A secret speech composed by Stalin's successor Khrushchev is distributed to the entire nation. Its message: Stalin was a tyrant. Its promise: The Soviet Union will change.
Facing his own personal turmoil, former state security officer Leo Demidov is also struggling to change. The two young girls he and his wife Raisa adopted have yet to forgive him for his part in the death of their parents. They are not alone. Now that the truth is out, Leo, Raisa, and their family are in grave danger from someone consumed by the dark legacy of Leo's past career. Someone transformed beyond recognition into the perfect model of vengeance.
From the streets of Moscow in the throes of political upheaval, to the Siberian gulags, and to the center of the Hungarian uprising in Budapest, THE SECRET SPEECH is a breathtaking, epic novel that confirms Tom Rob Smith as one of the most exciting new authors writing today.
*Taken from here.
Reading Group Guide:
• Zoya and Elena’s true parents were killed by an officer under Leo’s command. Do you
think Leo was morally required to take care of them?
• When Leo was a member of the state security force, it was his job to arrest many of his
fellow citizens. To what degree should he be held responsible for his past actions, even
though he was doing his duty and following orders?
• How do you think the political atmosphere and the role of women in society affected
Fraera’s transformation from a priest’s wife to a vory leader?
• Raisa seems willing to sacrifice her relationship with Leo to save Zoya. What do you
think of her decision?
• As rioting gulag prisoners prepare to execute Sinyavksy, the camp commander, he pleads
that he should be spared because in addition to the terrible things he has done while
running the gulag, he has also tried help when he could. “Can I not try and put right the
wrongs I have done?” he asks. Should the prisoners have given him a second chance?
• Zoya ends up seeking her revenge on Leo by joining Fraera’s gang, but in doing so she
hurts her little sister, the only family she still has. What do you think of Zoya’s actions?
• Leo was trained to be a devoted, loyal servant of the State, but he forged an unorthodox
path for himself outside of the security services, despite the clear risk. Why do you think
he was able to do this, when so many others couldn’t or wouldn’t?
• At the end of the story we meet a musician who is revered as a genius, but his work was
actually stolen from another composer who died in the gulags. If he were to reveal the
true source of his music, he would be exposed as a fraud and arrested as a thief. Now
riddled with guilt he asks Leo, “What would you have me do?” How would you answer?
• There are many “secrets” in this story—Leo choosing to not tell Raisa what he knows
about Zoya and the knife, Raisa keeping her meeting with Fraera from Leo, and
Khrushchev’s Speech to the 20th Congress of the Communist Party, are only a few—and
the question of what the consequences for keeping those secrets might be plays out in
ways large and small throughout. Do you feel there are situations in the book where
characters were right to keep their secrets? What about the final scene with Leo, Zoya,
and Elena? Should Zoya tell her sister the whole truth?
Grand Central Publishing
9780446402415
5/3/2010
448 pages
$13.99/$16.99
Extras:
Listen to an excerpt
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The book(s) will be mailed out by the publisher
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