‘Cold Victory’ by Karl Marlantes     (2024) – 345 pages

Sometimes I want a big fiction, one that deals with a subject unfamiliar to me which I can totally immerse myself in. The novel ‘Cold Victory’ served that purpose well for me.

Arnie Koski from the United States and Mikhail Bobrov from the Soviet Union had both been officers in their respective armies during World War II. Their armies had been allies, defeating their common enemy Germany during the war. Arnie and Mikhail had become friends after a fashion. After the war, it was natural that Arnie, with his Finnish background, would become a diplomat to Finland. Mikhail became a Russian intelligence officer stationed in Finland. Arnie is accompanied by his wife Louise, and Mikhail is accompanied by his wife Natalya. Natalya and Louise become good friends despite their language differences, and much of ‘Cold Victory’ is told from the point of view of Louise. Natalya has two little children, and Louise is trying to start her own family and in the meantime is working at the local daycare center.

Arnie and Mikhail make a friendly bet, a ski race across the frozen terrain above the Arctic Circle in northern Finland, since they are both excellent cross country skiers.

The daycare where Louise works is short of funds. Louise has what she hopes is a wonderful idea for raising money for the daycare. Why not sponsor a raffle where people could guess who wins this ski race between their husbands and by how much?

“Still, it was that damned impetuous go-get-’em attitude of hers. Of course, she’d come up with some scheme to bring in money for the cause.”

What could possibly go wrong?

“This was about Mikhail. Of course the Kremlin would be reading about this race, who knows how high up. Stalin and Beria were not the kind of men who laughed at embarrassment. They were the kind of men who would kill you if you embarrassed them.”

Louise’s friend Natalya is grilled by an intimidating Soviet bureaucrat:

“Do you really believe that “Louise Koski”, again the quotation marks, is as naive as she lets on?”

Yes, Louise Koski is that naive.

“Now she knew a grim truth: naivete was not an excuse; it was a flaw. And it was a flaw that hurt people.”

Along the way, we learn much of the history of Finland before and during World War II. In the late 1930s, Finland and the Soviet Union fought each other in what is called the Winter War, and Finland had to cede some of its land to the Soviet Union. During World War II, Finland sided with Germany to get their land back. Then the Soviet Union, the victors, imposed harsh conditions on the Finns.

In ‘Cold Victory’, there is intense suspense for both the women and the men. At the beginning I was a little put off by the author’s careful workmanlike construction of this fairly complicated plot situation and its protagonists, but by the end of the novel I was won over. Karl Marlantes has crafted this story to achieve a larger story goal. And there is a breathtaking surprise at the very end. ‘Cold Victory’ is a poignant historical novel.

Grade :    A