An Echo through the Snow    by Andrea Thalasinos Order:  USA  Can Forge, 2012 (2012) Hardcover, e-Book      Reviewed by Mary Ann Smyth An Echo through the Snow by Andres Thalasinos tugs at the heart strings. It's emotionally hard to read and brilliantly written. Thalasinos takes moments in history and expounds on what could have happened. What might have happened. What the reader wishes had happened. Jeaanta's future husband dies in the Bering Sea off the coast of Siberia in 1919 and she marries his brother Tariem. Not a happy marriage. Stalin's Red Army attacks the Chukchi people of Siberia in 1929, killing most of them, displacing those who survive, and eliminating their Guardians – the beloved huskies who 'were the soul and livelihood of their people.' Jeaanta meets a young man named Robert Ramsey from Nome, Alaska. Her family plans to flee the area but Jeaanta leaves them, taking their huskies and their many puppies with her, curling up with reindeer blankets in a curve in the land. We move ahead at this point to the Red Cliff Indian Reservation on Lake Superior, Wisconsin in 1992, when Rosalie McKenzie, at odds with the world, rescues an abused husky. She names him Smokey and begins a relationship with this wonderful dog that changes her life – turning it around for the better. Rosalie is hired as a dog handler and trains to work with race dogs. I simply cannot reveal more of the plot. You must read for yourself to decide if I am right that this is a one of a kind novel. I found it poignant, heartbreaking, sensitive reading, as well as learning some of the ins and outs of dog racing. What wonderful animals these must be. Put this one at the top of your must-read list - An Echo Through the Snow. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Contemporary books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews