Title: Snowdrops
Author: A.D. Miller
Publisher: Doubleday
Publication Date: February 22, 2011
Hardcover: 272 pages
ISBN: 978-0385533447
Genre: Fiction
From the Publisher:
An intense psychological drama that echoes sophisticated entertainments like Gorky Park and The Talented Mr. Ripley.
Nick Platt is a British lawyer working in Moscow in the early 2000s—a place where the cascade of oil money, the tightening grip of the government, the jostling of the oligarchs, and the loosening of Soviet social mores have led to a culture where corruption, decadence, violence, and betrayal define everyday life. Nick doesn’t ask too many questions about the shady deals he works on—he’s too busy enjoying the exotic, surreally sinful nightlife Moscow has to offer.
One day in the subway, he rescues two willowy sisters, Masha and Katya, from a would-be purse snatcher. Soon Nick, the seductive Masha, and long-limbed Katya are cruising the seamy glamour spots of the city. Nick begins to feel something for Masha that he is pleased to think is love. Then the sisters ask Nick to help their aged aunt, Tatiana, find a new apartment.
Of course, nothing is as it seems—including this extraordinary debut novel. The twists in the story take it far beyond its noirish frame—the sordid and vivid portrayal of Moscow serves as a backdrop for a book that examines the irresistible allure of sin, featuring characters whose hearts are as cold as the Russian winter.
My Review:
Some reviews are quite easy to write, almost as though they write themselves, while others are extremely difficult and this review falls into the latter category. Snowdrops by A.D. Miller has the potential to be a complex novel as it is filled with several story lines, exquisite detail, yet difficult to classify. According to the back of the book I should feel the decadence of the Russian society. This was one of my first problems, but I am getting ahead of myself. Snowdrops is about Nick Platt, a British Lawyer who in 2000 is living and working in Russia, everything is in flashback as the book is written as a letter to his fiancée in Britain, for he wants her to know everything about him, brave man or foolish fiancée, difficult call. Communism has recently fallen and Miller writes of the decadence, debauchery, and sins of Moscow. Greed and amorality rule the city, which I had an issue with, but again, this is a work of fiction so I kept reading. While Miller describes Russia beautifully, as he should for he has lived there, I found those descriptions of the real Moscow to be what I enjoyed about the book, not the seedy underbelly he is portraying in Snowdrops. The second problem I had was Miller’s sporadic use of Russian words or phrases. This threw off the rhythm, especially considering Russian uses the Cyrillic alphabet and therefore any Russian used is a phonetic spelling, an example from page 13, “Da,” I said. “Eta pravda. (Yes, it’s true.)” This form of using the native language, periodically, made Snowdrops rather frustrating for me to read, it broke up the flow and keep in mind, Nick Platt is writing this as a missive for his fiancée in London. Next, enter Masha and Katya, gorgeous young women who speak excellent English and ask for his help, naturally he helps them, they are young and gorgeous and of course they are lying to him. I enjoyed Snowdrops immensely when Miller wrote in his atmospheric prose of the beauty of Russia. I found the plot to be lacking, maybe it was the form in which the author chose to tell the story or the thinly veiled plot, or the unlikeability of the protagonist or merely this was not the book for me, I still have not decided, but I do know it does not compare to Gorky Park. I personally was quite put off by the hedonistic manner of Miller’s version of Moscow in 2000, and while I realise the author has lived in the country, I wonder where he visited or it is quite possible his imagination is simply brilliant. There is no doubt Miller is a talented writer and while Snowdrops just did not work for me, I will indeed try another book written by A.D. Miller. I honestly do not know to whom I would recommend Snowdrops to as I felt it did not live up to an “intense psychological drama” as it is promoted.
A. D. MILLER studied literature at Cambridge and Princeton, and worked as a television producer before joining the Economist. He has served as the magazine’s Moscow correspondent and is currently an editor in its London office. Snowdrops is his first novel.
I received a complimentary copy of Snowdrops by A.D.Miller from Doubleday to offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.
Interesting review, it’s a shame that it fell a bit flat.
I really wanted to adore the book, the idea of the book was brilliant. I will read another book by A.D. Miller as his prose is lovely.
Thanks for your review – I think I’ll skip this one.
You are welcome Kathy. You know the feeling when you are really looking forward to a book and it just disappoints on several levels? A.D. Miller has some excellent writing skills and I hope he chooses to use those and write more prose-filled books. It was, for me, a disappointing read and the ending was even worse. The book is claimed to be the next “Gorky Park”, I do not think so. It was also supposed to be a “psychological thriller” and I found it to be lacking in both.
Great review — and I can’t tell if I want to give this a try or not. The premise sounds fascinating (and I love books like The Talented Mr. Ripley) but your comments that it really lacks the psychological thriller-ness makes me less excited. I suppose I’m swimming in enough books to pass. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this!
Audra, the premise of the book is intriguing and I adored Gorky Park, but this was not in the same league. A.D. Miller is talented there is no doubt about that, I just had too many issues with the books to recommend it. I will happily read his next book, as I think this may have been too ambitious for a first book?