Book Description

From the prizewinning author of Rosehead and the resident writer of the 2015 Amtrak Residency Program, comes a disturbing ghost story about a toy train engine TUBE. Get your ticket ready. And beware. This is a ride not for the faint-hearted. In the winter of 1989 on the Moscow-Simferopol train, on the eve of her twenty-first birthday, Soviet ballerina Olesya Belaya attempts to get rid of her virginity with the help of her new boyfriend and dancing partner, Dima Rumyantsev. But when Dima gets undressed, and when between his legs Olesya sees her long-lost toy train engine TUBE, her reality cracks, and TUBE leads her to the car haunted by her forgotten memories of sick, violent secrets. As Olesya enters the car, she has only her sanity to hold on to, to believe what she sees, and only her five-year-old self, Little Olesya, to guide her along the “other” side of her family, stripped of pretense, and to steady her against the truth. Slowly, Olesya’s disbelief turns to acceptance, until she understands whom she has to face, to come out alive—an unexpected enemy who has a taste for the weak and whom she escaped as a child, only to call him back unwittingly, to finish the carnage… Perfect for fans of Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, and Margaret Atwood, TUBE is at once a surrealistic horror tale, a magical metaphor for overcoming past trauma, and an empowering novel about survival. Anske reminds us that the violent secrets of our childhood forever haunt us until we face them square in the face. Praise for TUBE from readers: “TUBE is a stark, cold, disturbing book of confronting the ghosts of our past. The taboo subject is handled unflinchingly, with vivid descriptions, evocative language, and raw honesty. I enjoyed the novel’s Russianness, the Soviet setting in the 1970s and 1980s is clearly described and detailed.” “This story was harsh, gritty, terrifying, and uncomfortable. But it was so, so beautiful. It brought down all the walls of abuse, it didn't romanticize or try to cover up or beautify the harsh realities. It splayed them out there, broken and bloody, for the world to see, and it showed that hidden memories and unacknowledged hurts only protect you for so long.” “Due to its surrealistic overtones, horror, and isolating nature, TUBE is the train ride no one wants to take but everyone has to experience.” “A powerful story about a woman’s struggle to regain lost memories of past trauma and in the process regain a part of herself that’s been lost as well.” “TUBE is like a giant train of weed while reading Stephen King and Darren Shan.”