The Siege

Helen Dunmore’s astoundingly beautiful new drama of two intertwined love stories unfolding during the 1941 siege on Leningrad has already been deemed “a pinnacle in fiction, and in the year’s fiction too” (The Telegraph) and “a world-class novel” (The Times). At once epic and intimate, The Siege is a modern masterpiece.Sudden news of a German attack rips the Levin family — twenty-two-year-old Anna; her young brother, Kolya; and their father, Mikhail — from their countryside retreat, throwing their world into unimagined turmoil. Soon all of Leningrad is trapped by the besieging German army, but daily life must go on. While Kolya plays with his toy fort, his tiny body grows cruelly thin. While Anna dreams of an artist’s life, she forages for food in the ever more desperate city. Likewise, Dunmore’s lush, lyrical appreciation of life’s comforts — a fire in the hearth, jam on the tongue — dwells in The Siege even amid the darkest despair. Before the siege is over, a mysterious ex-actress (Mikhail’s onetime lover) and a gentle young doctor come to the Levins’ frozen little apartment. Not all of the five will survive, but their struggle and their tragedy will ultimately bear hope for a new beginning.Helen Dunmore brilliantly shows us war as seen through the eyes of ordinary people “while bravely extending her range”. The Siege is a profoundly moving celebration of love, life, and survival.