Eastbound By Maylis de Kerangel

Discussion with Shelby Van Meter

Shelby Van Meter will lead this book group discussion. The novel is a fast-paced tale of two vibrant inner worlds. In winding sentences gorgeously translated, the prolific French author De Kerangal weaves the story of two unlikely souls entwined in a quest for freedom with a striking sense of tenderness – a sharp contrast to the brutal world around them. Racing toward Vladivostok on a Trans- Siberian train with other Russian conscripts, we meet the young Aliocha. Soon after boarding, he decides to desert and over a midnight smoke in a dark corridor of the train, he encounters an older French woman, Hélène, for whom he feels an uncanny trust. The complicity and plot thickens from there, as both protagonists struggle with their inner landscapes.