Hard by a Great Forest

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NAMED ONE OF THE OBSERVER’S 10 BEST NEW NOVELISTS FOR 2024

“Has a commercial-fiction spring in its step.… Vardiashvili also has captured the winking, world-weary humor and magic-realist touches that mark a lot of literature from Europe’s war-torn corners.” —Los Angeles Times

“This novel annihilated me…. Left my heart bruised and battered and aching for more.” —Khaled Hosseini, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Kite Runner

Amid rubble and rebuilding in a former Soviet land, one family must rescue one another and put the past to rest: a stirring novel about what happens after the fighting is over

Saba is just a child when he flees the fighting in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia with his older brother, Sandro, and father, Irakli, for asylum in England. Two decades later, all three men are struggling to make peace with the past, haunted by the places and people they left behind.

When Irakli decides to return to Georgia, pulled back by memories of a lost wife and a decaying but still beautiful homeland, Saba and Sandro wait eagerly for news. But within weeks of his arrival, Irakli disappears, and the final message they receive from him causes a mystery to unfold before them: “I left a trail I can’t erase. Do not follow it.”

In a journey that will lead him to the very heart of a conflict that has marred generations and fractured his own family, Saba must retrace his father’s footsteps to discover what remains of their homeland and its people. By turns savage and tender, compassionate and harrowing, Hard by a Great Forest is a powerful and ultimately hopeful novel about the individual and collective trauma of war, and the indomitable spirit of a people determined not only to survive, but to remember those who did not.Praise for Hard By a Great Forest:

“Vardiashvili’s heartbreaking debut novel lays bare the effects that displacement can have over generations and illuminates the resilience of those who have suffered and still found their way to happiness.”—The Washington Post

“Cunning and unstinting, humanist and self-aware…Evoke[s] a thorough understanding of war, escape and violence… reflecting the cyclical nature of familial death and individual reconstitution. The unstable way we return home.” —The New York Times

“Has a commercial-fiction spring in its step.… Vardiashvili also has captured the winking, world-weary humor and magic-realist touches that mark a lot of literature from Europe’s war-torn corners.” —The Los Angeles Times

“The stakes could barely be higher in Leo Vardiashvili’s propulsive page-turner… [Vardiashvili’s] sprawling narrative, part comic, part tragic, abounds in mysteries, monsters, magic and terrors. It’s a spellbinding achievement.”—The Financial Times

“Smart and gamesome.” —Wall Street Journal

“This debut novel captures both the long scars of collective trauma and the indomitable spirit of those determined to remember and survive.”—Oprah Daily

“When we land in Tbilisi with Saba we are in a fairy tale world, though one redrawn by Kafka. . . And what a tale it is. . .what makes this story so spellbinding, is what happens along the way.”—Minneapolis Star-Tribune

“Grippingl . . .Hard by a Great Forest is thrilling and blackly humorous, but it is also a poignant book, one that has considerable resonance today. . . powerful.”—The Economist

“Beguiling… Vivid, nostalgia-tinged images are littered throughout Leo Vardiashvili’s moving debut… Vardiashvili mixes a breezy tone with glinting lyricism.”—The Sunday Times

“A playful and sinister narrative about two siblings sent to the woods by their father… a treasure hunt through Georgian culture.”—Times Literary Supplement

“A compelling novel about war, family separation and ambivalent homecoming, its tale of sacrifice, guilt and betrayal is propelled by dark mysteries and offset by glorious shafts of humour… heart-wrenching and comic… Novels such as this might help light the way.”—The Guardian

“Both a thrilling mystery-adventure hybrid and the sort of war-devastated drama that leaves your chest heaving, all folded into one precious debut.”—Elle

“Vardiashvili keeps readers invested with the grit and generous spirit of his characters….a great read, full of history, mystery and chance reunions that asks the reader to examine how we can move forward when we’re followed by the ghosts of the past.”—BookPage

“Vardiashvili’s amazing and poignant tale of loss and resilience draws readers in with compelling descriptions of land and place. Saba encounters horrid acts of violence or their aftermath, but he also finds beauty, even magic and mystery. A remarkable debut.”—Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW

“Heartrending, beautifully crafted. . .Laced with humor and insights similar to those of Gary Shteyngart and Jonathan Safran Foer, this is a sweeping, ambitious, and almost unbelievably assured debut. Exploring the long shadow of trauma cast by any war, Vardiashvili’s novel pummels the reader with an emotional force that few can match.” —Booklist, STARRED REVIEW

“[A] spectacular debut. . .The tense plot ups the ante from one narrow escape to the next, and Vardiashvili layers his seamless blend of genres (police thriller, fairy tale quest, coming-of-age story) with lush depictions of Georgia’s landscape, culture, and resilient people. This will leave readers breathless.”—Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW

“An unforgettable aria to a lost homeland, full of anger, sorrow, and longing.”—Kirkus, STARRED REVIEW

“Lushly haunted debut…Fans of Téa Obreht’s The Tiger’s Wife will feel right at home.”—Shelf Awareness

“Movingly evokes the complicated feelings of trying to recapture and redefine what home looks and feels like. Vardiashvili doesn’t shy away from depicting the violence and trauma that still roil under the surface of Tbilisi’s shiny new cityscape — or that boil over in the disputed territory of Ossetia. But he also describes the unfailing generosity and hospitality of its people.”—Bookreporter

“This novel annihilated me.  I gasped, laughed, and wept my way through it. Rich with irony and animated with astonishing humanity, this tale of a young Georgian refugee’s odyssey into his birthplace to rescue family left my heart bruised and battered and aching for more.” —Khaled Hosseini, author of #1 New York Times bestseller The Kite Runner

“This novel blows open the heart of the past.  It’s a mystery, it’s a picaresque, it’s a comedy, and it’s an authentic song of belonging and unbelonging. Tender and raw and funny, it’s a rattling good read about the loss of home and the primacy of story-telling.  By turns political and philosophical, it introduces a fine new voice in contemporary fiction.”—Colum McCann, National Book Award winning author of Let the Great World Spin

“A wildly charming debut—propulsive, funny, and profound.”—Elif Batuman, Pulitzer Prize finalist and bestselling author of The Idiot

“Astonishingly crafted with history, candor, beauty, grief and just a little magic. A book like no other, from an imagination like no other. Vardiashvili has written a triumph.” —Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Less Is Lost

“Profoundly moving and rich with humor and heartbreak, Hard by a Great Forest mesmerized me from the very first page. It will capture your heart.” —Jean Kwok, New York Times bestselling author of Girl in TranslationLeo Vardiashvili was born and raised in Tbilisi, Georgia. When he was twelve, he and his family fled Georgia’s post-Soviet regime for asylum in England. He studied English literature at Queen Mary University of London.

1. The novel Hard by a Great Forest by Leo Vardiashvili tells the gut-wrenching story of a war-torn family. Saba and his brother escaped the war in the Republic of Georgia as children. Their mother stayed behind, while their father fled with the kids to find asylum in the United Kingdom. What does the book reveal about the traumas of war? What effect does generational trauma have on Saba and his family?

2. Years later, as a young adult, Saba goes back to Tbilisi, Georgia. While much of the city has changed, Saba feels at once a sense of belonging and displacement. How does Saba attempt to reconcile with his past when returning to his homeland?

3. Saba searches for his father, Irakli, and his brother, Sandro, who both have vanished within weeks of their arrival in Georgia. As Saba follows a trail of clues, he unveils secrets that lead to dangerous sites and unknown people. Consider Saba’s scavenger hunt as a hero’s journey, in which the character embarks on a challenging adventure. What does Saba learn, and how is he transformed as a character?

4. The author emphasizes the architecture that lies at the heart of Sololaki—the oldest district in Tbilisi, Georgia—filled with cobblestone streets, alleyways, and residential buildings. How does the setting (i.e., both location and time) shape or alter your reading of this story?

5. As Saba explores Tbilisi, he discovers zoo animals that have broken free and are roaming around the country’s capital. The scenes are based on a true story about the Tbilisi zoo in 2015. Why do you think the book uses elements of absurdism when depicting on-the-loose animals, such as “Boris the Hippopotamus”? What is the effect of juxtaposing tragedy with lighthearted comedy?

6. The title, Hard by a Great Forest, echoes the first line of Hansel and Gretel, as Saba encounters a disorganized collection of riddles and mysteries. What is the impact of the novel’s inclusion of whimsy, folklore, and magic? How are the fairy-tale aspects of wonder and curiosity embodied?

7. Along the way, Saba befriends Nodar, who lets Saba stay over in his home with him and his wife, Ketino. Nodar and Ketino say to him, “A guest is a gift from God,” a common Georgian proverb. What does this proverb demonstrate about the Georgian culture? What does it suggest about their people’s values?

8. Saba is haunted by the imagined voices of friends, relatives, and loved ones who died during, or after, the war. Compare and contrast the different voices of ghosts that live inside Saba’s head. How is death portrayed throughout the novel?

9. The book sheds light on the rubble and rebuilding of a former Soviet land, as Saba tries to flee from danger along the border between Georgia and Ossetia. How does the story illustrate tenderness, despite the ensuing chaos? What are the characters risking their lives for?

10. The effects of war are immense and boundless, as shown by this novel. Where might you see parallels between this story and that of other regions in today’s world? How are the consequences of war similar and/or different from one another between these regions?

11. The story spans over large periods of time. How does this book help readers to think about political fighting around the world, across decades?

12. The novel was inspired by real-life events experienced by the author. Vardiashvili lived in Georgia until he was twelve years old, when his family fled the fighting and economic strife in the early 1990s. English became his third language, after Georgian and Russian. How might this autobiographical context influence your understanding of the novel? How does this book, through fiction, strive to preserve and remember history?

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