All That Is Solid Melts Into Air - by Darragh McKeon (Paperback)

About the Book

All That Is Solid Melts into Air is a gripping end-of-empire novel, charting the collapse of the Soviet Union through the focalpoint of the Chernobyl disaster. Part historical epic, part love story, it recalls The English Patient in its mix of emotional intimacy and sweeping landscape.

In a run-down apartment block in Moscow, a nine-year-old piano prodigy practices silently for fear of disturbing the neighbors.

In a factory on the outskirts of the city, his aunt makes car parts, trying to hide her dissident past.

In the hospital, a leading surgeon buries himself deep in his work to avoid facing his failed marriage.

And in a rural village in the Ukraine, a teenage boy wakes up to a sky of the deepest crimson. In the fields, the ears of the cattle are dripping blood. Ten miles away, at the Chernobyl Power Plant, something unimaginable has happened.

Now their lives will change forever.

All That Is Solid Melts Into Air is an astonishing end-of-empire novel by a major new talent.

Book Synopsis

"Brilliantly imagined in its harrowing account of the Chernobyl disaster and exhilarating in its sweep, All That Is Solid Melts into Air is a debut to rattle all the windows and open up the ventricles of the heart. . . . The book is daring, exhilarating, generous and beautifully written." -- Colum McCann

A brilliant and gripping novel set against the tragedy of Chernobyl and the way in which the lives of its survivors were forever changed in its wake. Part historical epic, part love story, it recalls The English Patient in its mix of emotional intimacy and sweeping landscape.

Russia, 1986. On a run-down apartment block in Moscow, a nine-year-old prodigy plays his piano silently for fear of disturbing the neighbors. In a factory on the outskirts of the city, his aunt makes car parts, hiding her dissident past. In a nearby hospital, a surgeon immerses himself in his work, avoiding his failed marriage.

And in a village in Belarus, a teenage boy wakes to a sky of the deepest crimson. Outside, the ears of his neighbor's cattle are dripping blood. Ten miles away, at the Chernobyl Power Plant, something unimaginable has happened. Now their lives will change forever.

An end-of-empire novel charting the collapse of the Soviet Union, All That Is Solid Melts into Air is a riveting and epic love story by a major new talent.

From the Back Cover

Russia, 1986. On a run-down apartment block in Moscow, a nine-year-old prodigy plays his piano silently for fear of disturbing the neighbors. In a factory on the outskirts of the city, his aunt makes car parts, hiding her dissident past. In a nearby hospital, a surgeon immerses himself in his work, avoiding his failed marriage.

And in a village in Belarus, a teenage boy wakes to a sky of the deepest crimson. Outside, the ears of his neighbor's cattle are dripping blood. Ten miles away, at the Chernobyl Power Plant, something unimaginable has happened.Now their lives will change forever.

An end-of-empire novel charting the collapse of the Soviet Union, All That Is Solid Melts into Air is a gripping and epic love story by a major new talent.

Review Quotes

"A startling achievement....he wrings surprising emotional depth from the mundane....McKeon's characters may already have receded into history, but by imprinting their triumphs and tragedies onto the imagination with such visceral empathy, he has given them a deserving afterlife in this powerful novel." - Anthony Marra, New York Times Book Review
"A startling achievement....McKeon's characters may already have receded into history, but by imprinting their triumphs and tragedies onto the imagination with such visceral empathy, he has given them a deserving afterlife in this powerful novel." - Anthony Marra, New York Times Book Review
"Top surgeon Grigory finds refuge from his failed marriage in his work at a Moscow hospital. His ex-wife, Maria, makes car parts at a factory, the numbing repetition crushing her rebellious spirit. Maria's nephew is a nine-year-old piano prodigy, who practices noiselessly to avoid disturbing the neighbors at their dilapidated apartment building. And in a Ukrainian village, residents awaken to a crimson sky while in a nearby field the ears of cattle are dripping blood. An unthinkable tragedy has happened at the Chernobyl Power Plant, ten miles away, and nothing will ever be the same. This startling debut novel is a love story set against the harrowing tale of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. As the government attempts to downplay and even cover up the catastrophe, people are dying, some quickly, others slowly over years, black sores appearing on their tongues and skin; out in the woods, 'Mother Nature is bleeding.' McKeon's thrilling narrative is matter-of-fact but emotionally powerful, and his convincing characters depict precisely the perseverance of the human spirit in the darkest of times. A promising debut; highly recommended." - Library Journal (starred review)
"This startling debut novel is a love story set against the harrowing tale of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.... A promising debut; highly recommended." - Library Journal (starred review)
"In 1986 Moscow, as first-time novelist McKeon presents it, few expect the Soviet government to change: strikes fail, newspapers are corrupt, and many men and woman can only find work in factories. Even Grigory, a successful surgeon, mourns his relentless routine: 'The life that had silently formed around him seemed such a solid thing now.' McKeon conveys the U.S.S.R.'s rigidity through the miseries of his characters: Grigory's wife Maria, a savvy journalist, loses her career, reputation, and marriage in one fell swoop when her anti-Soviet sympathies are discovered. But while hope for personal betterment is relentlessly checked, the horrific nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl proves that massive-scale change is possible. McKeon offers four clear fictional perspectives on Soviet history, and not once do the private affairs of his characters (Grigory and Maria's love for one another; the tension between a nine-year-old piano prodigy and his mother, who has too much riding on her son's success; a boy's efforts to grapple with his father's sudden death) bump up awkwardly against the historical account. Instead, McKeon's fiction serves up, without cliché, what so many futuristic dystopian novels aspire to: a reminder that human beings can bring about their own demise." - Publishers Weekly
"McKeon's fiction serves up, without cliché, what so many futuristic dystopian novels aspire to: a reminder that human beings can bring about their own demise." - Publishers Weekly
"This debut novel is set in 1986, the year of the catastrophe at Chernobyl, and that disaster serves as the dramatic backdrop for the unfolding of action and character. First we meet Grigory Ivanovich Brovkin, a Moscow physician whose marriage to Maria has recently failed. Maria has a nephew, Yevgeni, her sister's son, who, at age 9, shows great promise as a piano prodigy, though his poverty militates against his success. For example, except when he goes for lessons at the house of his teacher, Mr. Leibniz, he has no piano to practice on but only a keyboard that makes no sound. Despite his promise, Yevgeni occasionally (and understandably) loses heart, especially when physically tormented, as he frequently is, by his gym teacher and fellow students. After the Chernobyl debacle, Grigory's medical skills are called on, for he must treat those who have been exposed to massive amounts of radiation. He feels dispirited by this as well as by official attempts to cover up the extent of the ecological and human disaster. McKeon takes the title for his novel from The Communist Manifesto, and everything solid does indeed seem to shift and evanesce as the events at Chernobyl reshape character and landscape. Eventually, Grigory pays a terrible physical price for his conscientious attention to duty, and Yevgeni, in a grace note of a conclusion set in 2011, receives a state prize for his virtuosity. A leisurely-paced novel intended for those who like serious and thoughtful fiction." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"This debut novel is set in 1986, the year of the catastrophe at Chernobyl, and that disaster serves as the dramatic backdrop for the unfolding of action and character.... Serious and thoughtful fiction." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"This daring and ambitious novel blends historical epic and love story with a detailed and moving description of the Chernobyl disaster and the fall of the Soviet Union. Darragh McKeon handles the struggles of his characters with care and compassion and creates a book rich with resonance far beyond its historical moment." - Colm Tóibín
"This daring and ambitious novel blends historical epic and love story.... Darragh McKeon handles the struggles of his characters with care and compassion and creates a book rich with resonance far beyond its historical moment." - Colm Tóibín
"Brilliantly imagined in its harrowing account of the Chernobyl disaster and exhilarating in its sweep, All That Is Solid Melts into Air is a debut to rattle all the windows and open up the ventricles of the heart. McKeon creates a thrilling appearance of ease, while he delves deep and forges new territory for the contemporary novel. The book is daring, exhilarating, generous and beautifully written. History is rendered here as a rising choir of contradictory demands. McKeon probes the forgotten corners of human experience and makes them properly valuable. Throughout it all, he writes with an ear for the quiet captivations of the human heart.All That Is Solid Melts into Air marks the beginning of a truly significant career. I cannot say it loud enough. McKeon is here to stay." - Colum McCann
"Brilliantly imagined in its harrowing account of the Chernobyl disaster and exhilarating in its sweep, All That Is Solid Melts into Air is a debut to rattle all the windows and open up the ventricles of the heart....McKeon is here to stay." - Colum McCann
"Set amidst the Chernobyl disaster, McKeon's debut novel loosely weaves the stories of a handful of characters whose lives are altered, both directly and indirectly, from effects of the 1986 catastrophe. Grigory, a chief surgeon struggling after his failed marriage, is called to the nuclear plant to provide aid in the wake of the accident. When he raises concerns about the ill effects of radiation and the government's lack of response, his authority is stripped. Meanwhile, teenage Artyom and his family evacuate their rural village for Minsk. Amid harrowing conditions at a resettlement camp, they desperately search for their missing father. Beyond the experiences of first responders and evacuees, McKeon portrays other characters coping with everyday life in Soviet Russia. Young Yevgeni, a piano prodigy relentlessly bullied by his classmates, lives with his mother and aunt in a tiny Moscow apartment. While he begins to test the bounds of parental authority, his aunt, Maria, begins to question her own circumstances. McKeon's graceful writing gives depth to his characters as they navigate indelibly changed landscapes and search for connection within chaos." - Booklist
"Set amidst the Chernobyl disaster, McKeon's...graceful writing gives depth to his characters as they navigate indelibly changed landscapes and search for connection within chaos." - Booklist