Anthony Marra

In a snow-covered village in Chechnya, eight-year-old Havaa watches as her father is abducted by Russian soldiers. Their neighbor Akhmed takes Havaa to the bombed-out hospital of Sonja Rabina. Sonja has no desire to take on more responsibility and risk -- there's someone of her own whose return she doesn't want to jeopardize. But over the course of five extraordinary days, Sonja's world will shift on its axis.

"When we first meet Maria Lagana, she's rewriting scripts at Mercury Pictures, a failing Hollywood studio known for its schlock. Maria's job is to re-craft dialogue and action to circumvent the censors, a skill she's mysteriously adept at. Born in Italy, as a teenager Maria witnessed Mussolini's censors arrest her father, an event that will destroy her family and burden Maria with questions of guilt and responsibility she will carry with her throughout...

12 books. In a rural village in December 2004 Chechnya, a failed doctor Akhmed harbors the traumatized 8-year-old daughter of a father abducted by Russian forces and treats a series of wounded rebels and refugees while exploring the shared past that binds him to the child.