A review by abookishtype
The Child Thief by Dan Smith

3.0

Unlike most people who think about time travel, I don’t make lists of places and times I would go. I make lists of places and times that would be the most dangerous to visit. The early 1930s in Ukraine is near the top of that list, shortly behind 1348 Europe. Dan Smith’s The Child Thief shows us a Ukrainian village in the midst of the Soviet collectivization drive. Red Army soldiers are combing the countryside looking for kulaks and “counter-revolutionaries.” They have the power to arrest or execute anyone. There’s barely enough food to feed everyone. People are watching each other with suspicion, not knowing who is an informer or collaborator. Outsiders are to be feared...

Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type.