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Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Book Review : GORGITO'S ICE RINK

TITLE: Gorgito’s Ice Rink

Paperback: 328 pages

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

PUB DATE: October 30, 2014

Gorgito's Ice Rink was runner up in Writing Magazine's 2015 Self-Published Book of the Year Awards.

SYNOPSIS:

Two small boys grieving for lost sisters — torn between family and other loves. Can keeping a new promise make up for breaking an old one?

When Gorgito Tabatadze sees his sister run off with a soldier, he is bereft. When she disappears into Stalin’s Gulag system, he is devastated. He promises their mother on her death-bed he will find the missing girl and bring her home; but it is to prove an impossible quest.

Forty years later, Gorgito, now a successful businessman in post-Soviet Russia, watches another young boy lose his sister to a love stronger than family. When a talented Russian skater gets the chance to train in America, Gorgito promises her grief-stricken brother he will build an ice-rink in Nikolevsky, their home town, to bring her home again.

With the help of a British engineer, who has fled to Russia to escape her own heartache, and hindered by the local Mayor who has his own reasons for wanting the project to fail, can Gorgito overcome bureaucracy, corruption, economic melt-down and the harsh Russian climate in his quest to build the ice-rink and bring a lost sister home? And will he finally forgive himself for breaking the promise to his mother?

A story of love, loss and broken promises. Gorgito's story, told through the eyes of the people whose lives he touched.

REVIEW:

Elizabeth Ducie writes a debut novel that is heartwarming and also heartbreaking story set in Russia. The story is unique and powerful, with characters I enjoyed to read about. Gorgito Tabatadze is one of them. He is kind, impulsive, and nothing is impossible for him. He will make good on his promise he made many years ago to his mother to find their long lost sister, Maria.

Emma Chambers, an engineer from England raised by her Russian grandmother, is fluent in Russian and takes an assignment in Russia in a pharmaceutical plant owned by Gorgito in Nikolevsky despite the bureaucracy, the politics, and the role of women in Russia.
I enjoyed reading about Gorgito and Emma's story and how it interweaves brilliantly. She is welcomed by Gorgito in this town that is so foreign to her. Emma's character is so well written and I feel so much pride in her bravery to go to Russia. She is smart, brilliant with a good head on her shoulders and enjoyed reading about her in this book. This book is full of emotions that will keep you turning those pages.

Ducie was able to write about the beautiful traditions of Russia through a very well researched story. The book is divided into 6 parts and moves from current time (2005) to mid 90's and in 1949 - though most of the story was set in the 90's. The story's pacing is just right and you really get to know the characters in the beginning with beautiful stories of life in Russia and build the story of Gorgito's loss and promise. The description of the traditions, the food and family life was a great addition to the background of this story to build Gorgito's character.

This was a very enjoyable and satisfying read for me with a very unique and interesting story line. I gleaned a lot about the Russian Gulag, the Russian life and traditions, and the importance of love, family and dreams that crosses any cultural divide.

I look forward to reading other books by Elizabeth Ducie.

Author Bio – When Elizabeth Ducie had been working in the international pharmaceutical industry for nearly thirty years, she decided she’d like to take a break from technical writing—text books, articles and training modules—and write for fun instead. She started by writing travel pieces, but soon discovered she was happier, and more successful, writing fiction. In 2012, she gave up the day job, and started writing full-time. She has published four novels, three collections of short stories and a series of manuals on business skills for writers.