Pure joy, full of charm

5 stars

Astronaut! is the most charming book I've read this year!. A real mash-up of cautionary tale, fairytale, docudrama mixed with a healthy sprinkling of humour and the naive innocence of childhood. You, too, will be delighted by the enchanting Lia and her incredible story set in 1989 Romania. 

Lia is the most precocious child. Eight years old and living in communist Romania, she doesn't see the dangers of day-to-day life the same way her parents who do. They constantly despair over the trouble she seems to attract with magnetic force and spend a great deal of time in a defensive posture. Oana Aristide may in actuality be eight years old, herself, as she captures with perfect clarity the sweet, often bazzar, way a child's mind works. 

In parallel we trail Constantin, a kind police detective who thinks up fairytales for his son whilst investigating a worrying array of grisly murders. Their paths cross and the story heads off full steam in unexpected directions. I cannot overstate how much I cherished this story and the world our talented author created. Not that I would want to live in a communist country, but the inhabitants of Astronaut! illustrated the ill-logic of it all with great dollops of black humour making this a place I was happy to share with them. Giggles will surely ensue if you also dive into the world of Astronaut!. 

Sweet, charming and wholly ludicrous in turns, it is a great balm for the dark times we live in.