Under extraordinary circumstances, two young children, Antonia and her brother Paul, were found in a bombed-out Sarajevo apartment by two American brothers. Their mother had been killed and the whereabouts of their father was unknown. The men decided to adopt the children and bring them to America.
Now, twenty years later Paul has vanished just as Antonia is about to begin her career as an attorney. Paul is her only link to all they have lost and she will not lose him. Her quest to find her brother reveals shocking secrets.
THE DIG by Anne Burt is an engrossing novel for a variety of reasons. What stood out the most to me is that while the past plays heavily on the present, Antonia's search and discoveries occur over the course of one day. Seamlessly integrated and woven into the narrative are the complexities of immigration, loyalty, assimilation, and family. The perfectly crafted characters have complicated personalities and backgrounds. When least expected, they surprise readers. Well-paced and thought-provoking, THE DIG is well worth reading. Highly recommended.
When Sarajevo-born siblings Antonia and Paul join a wealthy Midwestern family in the 1990s, a series of events with deadly consequences is set in motion. Now, with her career on the line and her brother missing, Antonia must race against the clock to confront long-buried family secrets
Antonia King has a complicated relationship with the past. She and her brother were found amid the rubble of a bombed-out apartment in Sarajevo and taken in by a family of contractors in Thebes, Minnesota. Eager to escape the constraints of her adopted town, Antonia embarks on a high-powered legal career. But it isn’t long before her brother’s mysterious disappearance pulls her back home. There, over the course of a single day, Antonia unearths decades of secrets and lies, leading to shocking revelations about her adoptive family—and the sinister truth behind her biological mother’s death—that will alter the course of her life and change her definition of family forever.
Informed by timely issues of immigration, capitalism, and justice, yet timeless in its themes of love, identity, and competing loyalties, The Dig, inspired by the Greek tragedy Antigone, portrays a woman at odds with her history, forced to choose between her own ambitions and her loyalty to her beloved, idealistic brother.
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