As the Nazis and Red Army converge in eastern Europe, four children band together in their attempt to survive the frozen Lithuanian woods: a Jewish girl and aspiring biologist Neriya, who hopes that her doctor parents are still alive after being torn from her; underage Polish soldier Czeslaw, who didn't so much abandon the army as the army abandoned him, when the rest of his unit died; Roma daughter of horse traders Kezia; and a nameless and silent abandoned young boy. As they learn from and lean on one another, they befriend an insightful and intelligent murder of crows, who end up offering protections that none of the children could have dreamed.
Nayler has a knack for writing about intelligent animals and making it feel both real and surreal (see: The Mountain in the Sea and The Tusks of Extinction), and this book is no exception. While the others are firmly seated in science fiction, however, this one is much closer to historical fiction with just a hint of magical realism. But it's still full of intelligence, meticulous detail, and a sharp understanding of the world in which the book is set. I've read everything that Nayler has published, and I have yet to be disappointed. This was excellent, and I highly recommend it. I will also be much more reverent toward crows going forward.
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