RaveShelf AwarenessMarra takes us on an extraordinary journey into a world little known to many of us, into the intersecting lives and minds of its wretched people. Like Tolstoy's thistle, he tells us of little things that carry great significance: a chess set, a kinzhal knife, a portrait attached to a tree, a Makarov pistol. He slowly unfolds his story's past and present with a balanced sureness and a subtlety rare in a first novel, with a rhythm that is graceful and welcoming … Although it's sometimes horrific in its painful telling, it's also beautiful, heartbreaking and filled to the brim with the vital ‘human matter’ of life.