Anthony Marra: "A Constellation of Vital Phenomena"

     I have already mentioned that I had started reading "A Constellation of Vital Phenomena" by Anthony Marra, and I indicated how impressed I was by the novel.
     The 29 or so chapters, each of which is headed by the year in which the action of that chapter takes place, are spread over a ten year period, from 1994 to 2004, and the reader is taken back and forward in time from chapter to chapter. This period covered the wretched history and suffering of Chechnya over two wars. The novel focusses on the intertwined relationships and back stories of a few characters from the small village of Eldar. And also, central to the plot development, there is an ethnic Russian surgeon (Sonja, not Sonya: the reason is given) who struggles to cope with the savagely wounded casualties of war in a run-down and damaged hospital in the nearby town of Volchansk. Sonja's sister, Natasha, is missing--a constant source of anxiety for Sonja--and Natasha's story is also taken backwards and forwards over the years.
     If you are squeamish, or just not into gruesome, you may find some of the material hard to take. But book critics have been ecstatic--for example this from The Washington Post:
 "A flash in the heavens that makes you believe in miracles...here in graceful prose is a profound story that dares to be as tender as it is ghastly, about lives in a remote land...I haven't been so overwhelmed by a novel in years...I have to say you simply must read this book."
     I am going to try to check if it has been published outside the USA.