In SILENCES: A NOVEL OF THE 1918 FINNISH CIVIL WAR, events 100 years ago have embroiled Jussi Mantere and the Solbakken family in fighting for the White army.
Jussi and his father have had artillery training. Ivor Solbakken, known as Rabbit, has been separated from his brother Karl, who is in the infantry--a foot soldier, in the thick of the action. Rabbit is ostensibly learning to be a cook. The White infantry is joined by artillery in fighting near Vilppula, as Red forces push toward crossroads and rail lines.
Food from Russia is no longer reaching Karl's unit, so
they're hungry. And rumours of atrocities swirl like snowflakes--both sides hearing stories that paint the other as irredeemably cruel and evil.
Spring may be returning to Finland, in its nascent independence from Russia. But the relationships among its peoples remains bleak.