I read this book at a time that I was craving fiction about Russia - and I am so glad I did! It was very well-written, and even though Florence starts out a little naïve, she learns her lessons along the way. I liked that this book spanned generations, so you can get an idea of how Russia changed over the years. Really enjoyed this.

A family saga that span generations; Florence, her son Julian, and his son Lenny.. Naïve Florence accept a position in Russia and it's not what she expected. It's a very well written historical fiction. I was engaged the whole way through.

What an interesting book! It was very engaging and I learned so much that I hadn't known. Very good look at US relations with Russia, and Russian history itself.

this was one of the first books I read in this setting and was captivated and completely transported in time and place.

I did enjoy this book however I also got very confused at some points, some characters and stories were focused on more than others.

Although the subject matter of this work was highly interesting, I had trouble engaging with this book. This is a book that I picked up, seemed to struggle through, and put down repeatedly. Consequently, I eventually abandoned it altogether.

Thank you to NetGalley and Spiegel & Grau for this free readers edition. In exchange I am providing an honest review.

So many titles are about people leaving their country of birth to come to America, the home of the free and brave. This title is about a young woman who left America in 1933 to go to Russia...on purpose. Florence believes Russia has a better way of life for its citizens than America and so she makes a bold choice to move there - partly to find a man she met, mostly because she believes Russia has it right where the USA has it wrong. And so she goes and makes a life in Russia. The story goes back and forth between Florence's arrival and subsequent years in Russia and present day (2008) with her son, Yulik (Julian), and his business trip back to his birth city of Moscow.

This was a tedious read. I realize that's not the best way to start a review of a title. I kept reading because I believed at some point the story would climax and something would happen. Nothing happened. The story starts out with Florence in America and how her decision to go to Russia was birthed. I knew how that was going to go and turn out. But I kept reading hoping that perhaps it wouldn't turn out the way you would expect it to when someone moves to Russia on purpose. Yes, America has its major flaws but to leave it for Russia? That's crazy. It just is. Julian's part of the story is...dull. I think it was supposed to be tension-filled and dramatic but I was bored by it. More bored than I was by Florence's parts of the story. When all is said and done I guess my short review is this, it was predictable. There wasn't anything that happened or didn't happen that you wouldn't expect when an American moves to Russia on some principles that were not fully explored and thought out. It wasn't poorly written but it just wasn't an engaging read.

Despite having no idea how to pronounce most of the names, I love historical fiction about Russia. The characters in this book are all complex people who make just as many mistakes as good decisions, and the descriptions of various Russian and American settings are excellently written and easy to picture. There were a few sections throughout the middle where the plot started to drag, but it would always pick back up again. My only real issue with the story (and others like it) is that many modern writers seem like they're trying to slip today's ideas about politics and civil rights into the mouths of characters who definitely wouldn't have thought/talked/behaved the way we do now.

Entertaining read on American/Russian life in transition for the 20th century. Terrific insight into Russia during WWII and under Stalin from the perspective of a willing immigrant to Russia later trapped in a world of Stalin and three generations of experiences.

It took me quite a while to get through this long read- at various points I wanted to stop reading and put it down for good, but I'm glad it kept calling me back because the story comes together and becomes very interesting and poignant as the pieces come together. Florence is a pistol of a young lady, idealistic about socialist Russia and led to move there by a summer lover. The harsh realities of the USSR sink in but she is so strong-willed she endures and is insistent things will get better. She is unprepared, however, to lose her freedom to leave and be forced to navigate an incredible political time. Her son and grandson's unique experiences in Russia are woven into the telling of her dramatic story as a prisoner, and gradually the truth comes out of the reasons she and her husband were imprisoned and abused. The story reveals aspects of Russian politics and history I was unfamiliar with, and the bonds and complexities of family relationships are beautifully interwoven to the story. It is worth the long read!

I enjoy reading historical fiction and this book is a multi-generation novel that covers the time period from the Great Depression in the US to modern day Russia. The author does an excellent job of portraying each era and you will learn a great deal of history but in a much more fun manner than reading a history book! The only con I found was that the book was very lengthy, I believe it could have been condensed a bit. If you're interested in reading about life in Russia during this time period I think you will find this book appealing!

Historical fiction is my favorite genre and this one was outstanding! I love that it added so much to my knowledge base. The combination of this book with A Gentleman in Moscow has truly deepened my view of Russia. Since I will most likely never visit, I appreciate seeing it through this story. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Honestly, this one was a tough read - not because the story wasn't interesting, but more so because of the cumbersome way it was written. The story itself was actually riveting and perhaps if it were written by someone else, I would have loved this book, but the writing style and narrative made this one a serious struggle to get through.

I received a free electronic copy of this historical novel from Netgalley, Sana Krasikov, Spiegel & Grau and Random House Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me.

At 536 pages, this seems like a long novel. In reality, it is two novels, intertwined, and exactly as long as it needs to be to tell this intriguing story. We follow Florence, a Jewish American, as she graduates College in Brooklyn and chooses to move from a Depression era US to Russia in 1933, following her dream of a better world. We are with her through the drama and hope of Lenin and Stalin and the merging of Russia into a police state and into World War II where, surprisingly, Russian Jews felt safer than before or since. In counterpoint we follow her son Julian and his son Lennie, both again in Russia for business purposes in 2008. And in between we share the life of Florence, lived as best she can. She was a remarkable woman, and her story is told with heart and compassion, Ms. Krasikov paints both the good and the bad with a wide, tolerant brush.

Such a sweeping story. It takes real talent to cover this much ground in a single book.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

The Patriots follows the story of a mother and son, jumping between the two timelines. In the 1930s, Florence Fein leaves the United States to be part of the socialist movement in the USSR, feeling that the future is happening there now. In the ever changing political climate there, life is harder than she expected. Florence’s son, Julian, made the move back to the United States as an adult. We follow his story in 2008, when he travels back to Moscow for a business meeting and to learn the truth about his mom’s past.

I learned a lot about the way things worked in Russia, especially since the author would sometimes insert history lessons in the middle of the story to give more of an understanding as to what was going on. I felt like the book could have been condensed somewhat to make a more compelling read. In particular, the small bits about Julian’s son, Lenny, seemed unnecessary. Lenny’s part in moving the plot forward would have worked just as well without the chapter about how his work was going. It was interesting to read about Russia’s history, and the story was good, but it just did not keep me captivated. Not a bad book, but not one I would say is a must-read

An interesting travel through time, I can see history fans loving this book

I enjoyed this novel overall, but I thought Krasikov did a particularly good job of creating and defining Florence's voice and qualities. The part of the novel about her son and grandson in post-Soviet Russia was interesting to some extent, and certainly entertaining, but I thought it felt like it was tacked on to the much stronger Florence narrative. It felt like there were too many loose ends, while the Florence narrative was tight and complete by itself.

This is work of multi generational historical fiction. It starts in the United States during the 1930s, in the depths of Depression. Florence is a starry eyed idealist who believes that the Soviet Union is a socialist utopia, while the US is a country of decadent capitalism. She emigrates to the USSR in 1934. She is soon disappointed, but pride prevents her from going back to the US. She believes that she can make the world better by staying in the USSR.
She is forced to become an informer by the NKVD(Soviet secret police). This story moves back and forth between her son, Yulik/Julian, herself and her grandson, Lenny. The story moves between 1930s USSR and present day Russia.
Some characters who interact with them:
Henry Robbins, a US Air Force pilot in the same labor camp as Florence
Sidney, Florence's brother
Essie, a friend of Florence from the ship journey to the USSR in 1934
Timur Kachak, commander of 150 labor camps in Perm, Siberia

Some quotes:
Release of thousands of USSR political prisoners--"Entire forests of people felled, bound and plied and now cast adrift into the rising water."
Yulik, talking about his time in orphanages--"Whenever I tell anyone that I spent ages six to thirteen, inside of public orphanages, they tend to arrange their face in a reaction I call the Purple Heart Ceremony."
The process of arresting and convicting political prisoners--"The prison cells were only the first stage of an operation whose ultimate aim was the harvesting and replenishment of slave labor."

There is sadness and a measure of redemption in this book. It is quite long, but reads well, once you are about 50 pages in. I read it in seven days. I recommend it to historical fiction fans.
I give 4 out 5 stars. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me this book.

Great read! I loved how the story line went back and forth from present day back to the past. Very telling about early communism and struggles of that era. Found it hard to put the book down and couldnt wait until I was able to pick it up again.