"Tumbling down the years, and across vast expanses of longing and loss, generation after generation of this compelling family hears echoes and sees reflections. Great characters and greater relationships come and go and come again; the world shakes, and shakes some more, and the reader rejoices to have found at last one of those glorious old books in which you can live and learn, be lost and found, and make indelible new friends."
This book is intimidatingly long - I have struggled to pick it up.

What a book. It’s a masterpiece
It is a multi generational story told over a century.
The characters are beautiful. A great book

What an emotional rollercoaster this book is!! There’s so much to say about it (being over 900 pages long, of course there is!) but it’s hard to write this review without spoiling too much.

This book could seem daunting because of the sheer size of it, but it is such a moving book that spans over 100 years in Russia. So much to take away from this book and so beautifully written!

Wow! What a book. This one took a long time for me to get through, but it was worth it. Very interesting though sometimes a little too dramatic for my tastes.

I received a free e-ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Eighth Life is a sweeping family saga centred around a family chocolate recipe that has been passed down through the generations.

I thought the writing was beautiful, and the English translation is excellent.

This is a ridiculously long book, with twelve interconnected stories. I admit that I struggled due to the sheer length, but I absolutely believe it was worth it, and every single syllable was necessary.

I was completely immersed in the world of twentieth century Russia, and was invested in the lives of the characters.

Highly recommend.

Ok so yes... This is a long, ambitious novel, but due to the writers skill it never feels slow. The stories are told with pace and intensity and each of its 8 parts are significantly different to one another. The characters are so well drawn that it never feels repetitive. A gripping saga, a beautiful history lesson & evocative writing. Highly recommended

The story of a Georgian family. I just knew I was going to be captivated by this book. I read the synopsis and simply knew, there were no ands-ifs-buts, it was a match made in heaven.

Unfortunately, I was really delayed in reviewing it, but it really did take me a long time to go through it once I picked it up. Actually, it's one of the books that took me the longest time to read, in my entire lifetime. I grew up on Russian literature basically, so longer, darker themes and works were something I was used to. But I just wanted to enjoy this one and it will definitely end up on my rereads list for this year too.

It's emotional, heartbreaking, difficult to read it at times, a little bit funny as well, but not in the ''ha-ha'' type of way... I just love books that goes through generations and histories of a family, there's just so much to read about, unpack and untangle.

While it may take more concentration and time to read it, trust me when I say it's worth it. It will grab you and hug you and you'll embrace it!

This book is a family saga that takes place around a chocolate recipe. It begins with the Russian Revolution and continues for a century in which we will witness intrigues, love stories without a happy ending, successes and failures.
The book is vast in both the literal and metaphorical sense. It portrays the vicissitudes of human experience, with its nuances, without judgments of moral value.
Originally written in german I can only judge the english translation, and I will say it is beautiful.
I'm giving it 3 stars because I don't tend to like reading a thousand pages books. This books require a lot of time and commitment on the readers end and I'm not sure if it's a reading for everyone.

The Eighth Life by Nino Haratischwili is set in the country of Georgia, the former Soviet republic. I don’t know very much about Georgia so reading this book was like seeing a little glimpse of Georgian life. There were historical figures and events that match up with actual events. Of course, this book is fictional so not everything is true. There could be cursed chocolate being made by one family or there could be no curse. No one will ever really know.

The story is told from the point of view of Niza, who is telling the story to her niece, Brilka. Each section tells the story of what happened to each relative. At first, I thought I might need a chart but shortly after beginning to read , all of the characters and their relationships made sense. However, there is no shame in making a family tree if you need a visual tool.

It would be difficult to choose a favorite character because they are all fascinating. If I had to guess which character that I am most like, it would be Stasia. Her father, a successful chocolatier, entrusts her with the secret chocolate recipe. There is a secret ingredient that makes the chocolate dangerous, some would say cursed. The father sells the chocolate to his customers but does not include the secret ingredient. On special occasions, Stasia makes the secret chocolate and discovers that it is a powerful tool or weapon.

So Niza, who is the great-granddaughter of Stasia, has been tasked with retrieving her niece, Brilka, and sending her home to Georgia. Niza feels compelled to share the family history with Brilka. There are so many secrets and things that Brilka has never been told. There are 8 books, which are the 8 lives that are important in this family history. I listed the books just in case you were curious.

Book I: Stasia

Book II: Christine

Book III: Kostya

Book IV: Kitty

Book V: Elene

Book VI: Daria

Book VII: Niza

Book VIII: Brilka

It took me a few days to get through the book but it was worth the effort. Remember when there used to be a really great mini-series on television that you didn’t want to miss – like Roots, North and South, Lace, any Danielle Steel series. I know, some of those shows haven’t held up but in the 80s that is all we had. There wasn’t anything streaming. No Netflix. Anyway . . . . The Eighth Life could be as great as any movie or show that has ever been on anything. There is so much drama that I stayed up way past my bedtime on several occasions. It is an epic story – literally. Epic is defined as: a long poem, typically one derived from ancient oral tradition, narrating the deeds and adventures of heroic or legendary figures or the history of a nation. EPIC!!!!!

If you are into stories about family, history, chocolate and all of the drama that is included with all of those topics, then The Eighth Life should be the next book to affect your life.

According to Wikipedia, Kartvelophobia “refers to the dislike, hatred, or persecution of Georgians, the country of Georgia, or Georgian culture.” If you have Kartvelophobia, then I feel sorry that you will miss out on this book and also a whole set of people.

I received this ebook from NetGalley in exchange for doing a review. All opinions are my own. Obviously.
Amazon affiliate link included in this post.

This was a really long book, like 1000 pages. Wow. Books like this really transport you to a different time, to a different place. In this case I was on a journey through a century. Though long and daunting, once you get into it, it's worth it.

Fast paced and thrilling! Enjoyed it very much. Though it's a very long book but written with extreme precision. Loved it.
To the readers, take your time, slowly read and enjoy the book!

THE EIGHTH LIFE
Nino Haratischvili (trans. Charlotte Collins, Ruth Martin)
An epic of a novel based around one Georgian family and covering seven generations. It is the story of a country moving into a new era, told through a family, tracing the history of the Russian Revolution to the fall of the Soviet Union, but it is more than a history book.
The novel begins at the turn of the twentieth century with a chocolate empire holding a secret, delicious recipe which is passed down through the generations. However, the use of this recipe needs to be used with caution as it can lead to a bad flavour.
There are tales of grand, but doomed romances, starting with Stasia, whose husband, Simon, is posted into the centre of the Russian Revolution. Thus begins the story of loss, sorrow, regrets, jealousy but also great friendship and relationships. It is a very long read, which may have been easier to manage in perhaps a trilogy.
I would recommend you give time to this book as it is a fantastic read with so much deeper meaning.

Truly outstanding family saga that spans generations. This is a whopper of a book but it's well worth investing the time in it. I found that once I got into it I really relished spending time in this alternative world that Nino Haratischvili created so expertly. This book is so deserving of all of its recent award nominations, I highly recommend it to anyone looking for an original historical novel which will take them on a journey.

The Eighth Life was longlisted to the Booker International Prize 2020 but missed the shortlist. I would have preferred it to China Iron or The Discomfort of Evening but I think I understand why It did not convince the jury. Too readable maybe?

The long novel is the saga of a Georgian family ( the Eastern Europe one not the US state) starting in 1900 and up to the beginning of the 21st century. The story follows a few generations of dramatic events, either external or among the family.

It took me forever to read this novel, not because I did not like it but because It was too dramatic although the writing is playful and not too oppressive. Many times, the events slide towards melodrama and that was a detail I did not appreciate too much. It seemed that there was no shortage of bad luck for the characters. The writing was pleasant, but I would not say it was anything too special.

There was a magical realism touch to the novel in the form of a secret hot chocolate recipe which brings doom to whoever drinks too much from it. I found this detail useless and a bit out of place.

All in all, I think the novel is worth the effort and it is a great way to learn more about Georgian history and not only. Some people complained that there is too much info about the WW2 but for me it was fine because I am no expert on the subject. I did not even know Beria was Georgian, for example.

It feels like a century since I started reading The Eighth Life, by Nino Haratishwili (and translated by Charlotte Collins and Ruth Martin)—but not because it was slow. It felt like a century because its plot spans almost the entire twentieth century, crammed into just under 1,000 pages. In this monumental novel, Niza Jashi recounts the history of her family since the Bolshevik Revolution to the fall of the Soviet Union to her niece, Brilka. Not only do we get a ground view of Soviet history from a country not often seen in English-language fiction (Georgia) but also the troubled history of a family of battling parents and children.

After a brief introduction that puts Niza and Brilka together on a trip across Europe, Niza turns her attention to the 1910s and her great-grandmother, Stasia. Stasia is the privileged daughter of a chocolatier in Tbilisi. She dreams of being a ballet dancer for the Ballets Russes, but infatuation and history get in the way. Stasia marries a White (later Red) Army officer after a whirlwind courtship before the officer heads off to fight. This is the first in a series of couples divided by war. Sadly, no one in the Jashi clan ever seems to find lasting happiness again.

Niza’s tale contains numerous tales of family members who grow apart because of war or allegiance to (or rebellion against) the Soviet regime. Over and over, parents push their children to become their ideal next generation. Sometimes this means coddling them so much that they don’t understand the dangers of speaking their mind. In others, it means taking a child away from one parent to raise them in Moscow. Every attempt at perfection implodes and leaves members of the family bearing irreconcilable grudges against each other. If The Eighth Life had been set in a capitalist country, I think the children of each generation would have run as far and as fast as they could. In fact, the later generations do just this. But because this novel is primarily set in Tbilisi, Georgia, it’s not possible for the Jashis to do anything other than live in close quarters, stewing in resentment.

Charlotte Collins and Ruth Martin beautifully translate this sprawling novel. Haratischwilli’s writing style—which jumps from character to character as Niza shares everything she ever learned about her family—never drags. The plot also never calms down, in part because of history and in part because of intra-family psychological warfare. I’m not sure if I would have been able to read this book in one long session. Deadlines for NetGalley and Edelweiss had me hitting pause on The Eighth Life to read other books. I was always able to pick right back up where I left off, but refreshed from a small break from the Jashis. This might sound like whining; it’s really not. It’s just that there is a lot in the 944 pages of The Eighth Life. Readers should be prepared for a long haul.

wow!! this is a huge book, can be somewhat overwhelming but it was a great read and I really recommend it.

I love reading historical fiction and family sagas, so this book was bound to be a fave. It out did my expectations because it covered situations, times and places I haven't read about before and I loved that.

An amazing family saga that's so well written that goes over a long period of time. If you like historical fiction and family sagas, this is not one to miss.

thanks a lot to the publisher and NG for this copy.

I read 100 pages of this book before realizing it was over 900 page. Honestly, I couldn't see myself going for another 800 pages. The writing was good and the story interesting, but I wasn't prepared to read a book of that length and just don't think it's necessary. I think this book might be excellent for people interested in a long read, but after 100 pages, I didn't feel a need to persist to the end.

,And, in tracing the path of this ghost, she hoped to find redemption, and the definitive answer to the yawning emptiness inside her.,

This is the book I have been needing to steep myself in all year. It’s about the revolution of the Janish family, which really begins with a secret, irresistible, seductive hot chocolate recipe that tastes like a blessing but bleeds into their lives like a curse. Surely a cup of warmth that fills the belly with such promise can fix an entire empire and yet how could they possibly know what destructive forces a red century has in store for them all? That they will become knots in a horror story of sorts, isn’t history full of those? Who is ever truly spared the cruelty of wars, within a country or a family? The beautiful Anastasia “Stasia”, ‘who came into the world already dancing’ is oblivious to the power the secret recipe her father (a famous chocolatier) gives her. “He guarded it like a secret of war.” He makes her promise to never allow the recipe to leave the family nor use it lightly, it is meant only for rare, special occasions. Does she heed his warning? From the moment it touches her tongue “it was like a spiritual ecstasy”, her fanciful dreams of life as a ballerina in Paris dissolve, but that is the least of the miseries and sorrows to come. In marrying a friend of her father’s, lieutenant of the White Guard Simon Jashi, she is bound not for Paris but for the cold climate of Russia- a country troubled with unrest. Meant to join her husband who left ahead of her, things run amok and fate teaches her a lesson.

There is no time for innocence nor clumsy dreams. It is only a relative that keeps her alive and later, when everything sours and the October Revolution thunders on, tragedy strikes. Fleeing destruction and death she finds her husband and gets pregnant with their first child ( Brilka’s great grandfather), returns back to Georgia “to the bosom of her family”, only to see the Chocolaterie fall into the state’s hands. Joined together again, she and Simon live in the countryside as a family where her life no longer feels like her own. Her sister Christine comes of age, blossoms and makes a very successful marriage. Stasia’s family grows as she gives birth to a daughter, and refusing to visit her husband in Moscow, instead moves into her father’s halved house. Later, she and her children live with her beautiful sister Christine and her husband Ramas. Christine catches the eye of her husband’s superior, the Little Big Man, awakens his animal urges, and sets in motion a horrific chain of events that will near destroy their entire family.

Then there are the children, Kitty and Kostya and how their lives play out. They both find themselves tied up in Andro’s own future, the son of Stasia’s dangerous friend, Sopio. How did I keep up with every character without notes? That’s how enthralled I was with the family and I began to feel like I was living through it all alongside them. This is a novel rich with history but nothing is more domineering than the fate of these characters. The dust never settles, the devil always seems to be at someone’s heels. But just which devil? There is no monster nor darkness more terrifying than human beings. Betrayal, starvation, treason, infidelity, war, dictators, torture, pogroms… and “Men always want to be in charge of you. What kind of life is that? I may as well have been born a dog; even as a dog I would have more freedom.” It’s not only women who ‘Little big men’ are in charge of, but countries full of doomed people. It’s as if another character may as well have been death, because it’s a constant presence.

If you’re unfamiliar with Russian, German, Georgian history then you will be better informed after reading this novel. I can’t imagine a reader unfamiliar with it being able to understand the choices made nor the traps the characters all fall into. It makes for a more involved investment not all readers are interested in making. I, however, ate these pages. The horror of the times isn’t lost on me, my family has a history rife with Russian occupation and bullets, after-all Russia invaded Hungary. Poverty, hunger, cruelty, war, death, civil unrest- it feels like my own family history. Choosing which side your loyalty lies in a divided country is like choosing your own poison. People talk big who don’t understand living in fear and this novel certainly sheds light on the terror of the powerless.

There is a line about Kitty branded in my head, ‘she was a survival artist’, and the truth is every woman in the Jashi family has to be with their rotten circumstances or curse… “tomato, tamahto”.

I was riveted from the start and urge readers to dig into this novel full of riches. You can’t shake more story out of it. I was exhausted with all the emotional hijacking and I loved every moment of it. I won’t gush in a long winded review, because you need that precious time to invest in this novel. The characters fall into such a deep abyss that it’s a wonder there is a descendant (Brikla, for whom this is all told) that made it through her family’s traumas at all. It’s hard to feel sorry for myself looking back on history. I don’t say this often, but Nino Haratischwili is a hell of a writer. How do her characters occupy her head space, with all their desires, regrets, rage? Yes, read this book! Remember you have been warned, it is not a light read.

Available Now

Scribe