The Afterlife of Stars...

I just finished this book, a little unusual.  I chose it based on the review by Shonna, of Canadian Bookworm.  I'd never read anything about the Hungarian Revolution.  In the end I felt this was a book about brothers, family and the  weight of loss and turmoil.  I particularly like the way the elder brother Attila referred to his brother Robert,  and he often tells him he can grow up to be the "singing nun".  Very humorous, in the midst of terror.  In essence the  book is told from the point of view of an eight year old Jewish boy, whose family is fleeing the Hungarian revolution.  A series of unfortunate events unfold and some strange occurrences. 

from the book cover:
 In the waning months of 1956, while Russian tanks roll into the public squares of Budapest to crush the Hungarian Revolution, brothers Robert and Attila Beck flee with their family to the Paris townhouse of their great-aunt Hermina. As they travel through minefields both real and imagined, Robert and Attila grapple with sibling rivalry, family secrets, and incalculable loss to arrive at a place they thought they’d lost forever: home.
 
In beautifully crafted writing that burns with intensity and humour, Joseph Kertes explores displacement and uncertainty in a dark time from the perspective of two boys filled with wonder at the world around them.