Tube by Ksenia Anske
A Magical Realism Novel published by Ksenia Anske (07/06/20)
Summary:
“The most protected secrets had the longest lives.”
Olesya is a ballet dancer. She’s about to turn 21. She is riding the train with her ballet cohorts and dancing partner Dima. After being told she’s like a doll, not enough emotion to be principal, Olesya decides to have sex with Dima. When Dima undresses, Olesya discovers her childhood toy engine TUBE between his legs. What happened to TUBE and why can’t Olesya remember it? Why is she like a doll now? What really happened when she was 5? Olesya will have to travel to the haunted train car, open all the compartments of her childhood trauma and uncover the truth.
Keywords:
Ghost Story, Magical Realism, Train, Russia, Ballerina, Dancing, Family, Father, Horror, Trauma, Survival, Violence, Childhood, Struggle, Pain, Past,Surreal
My Review:
I read the first half of the book in one sitting, marveling at the starkness of the descriptions and wondering what the inevitable ending was going to be. Then I put the book down and didn’t feel compelled to pick it back up immediately. Though stripped down to bare bones, this book still felt heavy in its second half. Maybe I was having a harder time reading, knowing that I wasn’t going to like the conclusion. Knowing how terrible the reveal was going to be.
The setting was very lifelike and I could almost feel the motions of the train, even though I was not familiar with all the vocabulary of train travel and trains in general.
My favorite part about the book was the natural dialogue and dialogue tags. The conversations felt so natural, I could picture the characters speaking to each other.
This book was both light and playful and heavy and dark.
This novel was published by Ksenia Anske July 6th, 2020 and is available on Ksenia Anske’s Website here.
TL;DR Star Rating: 4.25
Links for more information:
Rachel Author Barnard 