When the Doves Disappeared / Sofi Oksanen 303 p.

I was intrigued by Oksanen's 2010 novel Purge.  Doves revisits that novel's setting, Talinn, Estonia, during and after WWII, with significant stylistic differences.  Edgar and Roland are cousins who take very different paths through their country's history in these years.  Estonia was independent, then Soviet, then part of  Nazi territory, then very briefly independent again, and finally Soviet until the USSR collapsed.  Between them is Juudit, Edgar's wife and dear friend of Roland's fiancee.  An incredibly complex and often confusing story that is part murder mystery, part spy thriller, with a stunning resolution.  The point of view is especially striking.  Oksanen is Finnish-Estonian and paints the Nazis as only one of a series of regimes interested in stomping on her people rather than ultimate villains.

Occasionally this was a choppy read, almost as if it had been over-edited to maintain suspense.  (I almost always wish novels had been more heavily edited.)  Perhaps the background is simply more familiar to Eastern Europeans.  I ended up reading several Wikipedia articles on Estonia at the mid-point because I was struggling to follow the narrative.  I recommend it anyway - the most chilling thing I've read in quite awhile.