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Ice Road, Gillian Slovo
Little, Brown
Reviewed by Chris Hick (Courtesy of Taranaki Daily News)

If, when you read a novel, you like to escape into a world where the men are rugged, bronzed, endowed with huge bank balances and have enormous romantic ingenuity; a world in which the women are sassy and sexy and strong and have all the right things in all the right places; and you are lifted, albeit briefly, into that glitterati world of them – not us, then, maybe, Gillian Slovo's Ice Road is not the one for you.

If, however, you like your novels a little more challenging, demanding your attention and making your complacency sit up and take notice; books that bring to life great historical moments through well-developed fictional characters, then read on and you will be transported from the cosy nest you inhabit today into the chilling and harsh existence that was the tragic reality for millions of ordinary people. In short, it is a book that makes you take stock of how bloody lucky you are.

Ice Road is both a metaphor and a tangible reality. Metaphorically, Slovo's Ice Road can be read as the chilling and despotic journey the Russian people have travelled. Literally, the Ice Road becomes the last escape route east out of besieged Leningrad across the frozen Lake Lagoda.

Ultimately a triumph of the human spirit, Ice Road is a novel bound together by strong characters amid the constant chill of the Soviet winter and Stalin's terror. These characters blossom like spring flowers amid the wintry slush and are expertly developed along with Slovo's almost poetic descriptions of the seasonal changes.

Central to the story is Irina Davydovna, a humble cleaner swept along by events yet remaining aloof, unnoticed but wise and observant of all those around her like Boris Aleksandrovich, a Party man trying to juggle his loyalties and idealism with Realpolitik; Natasha, the free-spirited, beautiful daughter of Boris who is desperately in love with Kolya, a factory worker dedicated to the Soviet cause; Anton Antonovich, eccentric professor of history and lifelong friend of Boris Aleksandrovich; Dmitry Fedorovich, sinister Party lackey and Jack Brandon, American entrepreneur whose path, like all the others', becomes inextricably linked in the unstoppable events as they unfold.

Slovo's clever use of the first person allows us inside the minds of the main characters, offering moment by moment thoughts as life-changing events happen. The book takes the reader through the gamut of emotions as the momentous events of Russia's modern history develop – the Bolshevik Revolution, the purges, the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union.

This book is not a jolly read but it is a very rewarding one.