Salt the Snow by Carrie Callaghan - Bookin' It With Jen

Set primarily in 1930s Moscow, this book and the main character, journalist Milly Bennet, share a sort of bleak optimism rarely afforded the Soviets from the American perspective. Befitting the tumultuous time period, the book is written with a kind of quiet but hectic uncertainty that leaves the reader with questions unanswered, as did history itself.

Before reading this book I had never heard of Milly Bennet. I had no idea she was a real person, and such a trailblazer in the field of journalism. I am not convinced that this had anything to do with her desire to write so much as her desperation to find herself. Reading about her I couldn't help but pity her, as her pain was so apparent, though we never really find the real root of it. I was disappointed in her morality and her constant need for male approval, but such were the times I suppose.

I would have loved for this book to have further expanded upon the struggles that the Russians were experiencing at the time; while the housing and food shortages and such are mentioned in passing, I feel like more detail and explanation would have helped to provide some depth to the story. Honestly I think that this book would have been much better if it switched perspectives with Zhenya and detailed his life and experiences as a Citizen and Criminal in the eyes of the State. The way it is written leaves Milly's story seeming very one dimensional and self centered.

Milly's time in Spain toward the end of the book was slightly more interesting to me, but overall this book was kind of slow and steady. A lot was happening at the time but not much happens in the book itself.

Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for providing me with a copy of this book to review. All opinions are my own.