The Lost Button by Irene Rozdobudko - Book Review

Title: The Lost Button 
Author: Irene Rozdobudko

Publisher: Glagoslav Publications Ltd

Publication Date: June 2012

Pages: 182

Format: E-Book - EPUB
Genre: Literary Fiction

Source: Review Copy from Publisher

The taut psychological thriller The Lost Button keeps the reader transfixed. It received first place in the Coronation of the Word competition in 2005 and subsequently was made into a feature film. The novel tells the story of young student scriptwriter's encounter with a mysterious, femme fatale actress named Liza at a vacation resort in the Carpathian Mountains in Soviet Ukraine in the 1970s. Unable to let go of his love after getting lost with her in the woods for one beautiful night, the young man's fascination with the actress turns into an obsession that changes his entire life. Great happiness or great tragedy can begin from the smallest detail, from a button, that is so easy to lose, but which you can search for your entire life. The Lost Button, a drama that ranges in geography from Central Europe to the United States of America, is a novel about love, devotion, and betrayal. It is about not looking back, but always valuing what you have - today and forever. (Goodreads Synopsis)


I found the story of this book intriguing and on the whole I liked the characters. This is a book that meanders rather than finding a strong storyline to follow, but that is not always a bad thing as it led to a more reflective piece of fiction.

My main issue with this book was that the translation felt a little clunky at times. Perhaps the original was the same, but my belief is that it is more of a translation problem. Also there were a reasonably large number of typographical errors that really detracted from my enjoyment of the book as I had to keep reading sentences that didn't make sense due to these errors. Hopefully that can be fixed for future releases/editions.

All the same, the book held my interest to the end and I would recommend it to those interested in modern Russian literature and fans of more reflective fiction.