David Benioff · 2008 · survival

David Benioff's 2008 novel, set during the siege of Leningrad in the winter of 1942. Two young men, Lev and Kolya, arrested under the brutal wartime laws, are spared execution on one condition: in a city starving to death under German blockade, they must find a dozen eggs for a colonel's daughter's wedding cake. Their search drives them out of the dying city and across the frozen lines into German-held country, in a quest both absurd and deadly.

1. 1
   Leningrad

   In the starving, blockaded city, Lev and Kolya are given an impossible task: find a dozen eggs, or die.

2. 2
   The Lines

   They slip out of the city, past the Russian front and into German-occupied territory.

3. 3
   The Countryside

   Across the frozen countryside behind enemy lines, falling in with a band of young partisans.

4. 4
   The Farmhouse

   A German-held country house, a deadly game of chess, and at last the eggs.

5. 5
   Leningrad

   And the long, dangerous road back to the city.