A Partial History of Lost Causes

A Novel Excerpt

by Jennifer duBois
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Exceptional writing, worth real notice. I'm going to look for the book.

This story develops a tremendous psycho-physical scape in a city that has inspired so many great works of literature.

This reads like a classic, as though it was a book on everyone's shelf. I haven't read something this satisfying in a long time--and this just an excerpt. Bravo.

I quickly grew engrossed in this novel and its protagonists despite topics that I did not expect to interest me much (a degenerative disorder, Russian politics, chess). It became one of my very top favorites of last year.

Ms. duBois's writing is stunning. She has me living in Russia, shivering in the bitter winter. How does she live in the brain of a bewildered Russian peasant struggling to adapt to a change of place? I will recommending this novel to members of my writers' group, as well as to Hampton Roads Writers.