Bronshtein in the Bronx

Espionage novelist Littell (The Company) tries his hand at historical fiction in this charming reimagining of the 10 weeks Leon Trotsky spent in the Bronx. From the moment the exiled Trotsky, his companion Natalya, and their two young sons step off a tramp steamer on Ellis Island in January 1917, J. Edgar Hoover’s Bureau of Investigation is on his tail. He and Natalya set up house in the Bronx, where, in between writing for a Russian-language socialist newspaper, he gives speeches opposing U.S. entry into WWI, prompting Hoover and his men to arrest him for sedition and incitement to riot. After enduring a harsh interrogation by Hoover, he’s bailed out by American socialist politician Algernon Lee. In February, news of the Russian Revolution prompts Trotsky to return with his family to Russia, bringing the novel to its hopeful conclusion—one that’s coolly ironic given the real Trotsky’s tragic fate. An air of irreverence pervades this account, which is full of winking anachronisms that poke fun at Trotsky and his fellow idealists (“It ain’t Jules Verne rocket science,” asserts a socialist about the invention of the light bulb, which allows factories to further exploit workers). Littell’s fans will love this playful swerve. Agent: Robin Straus, Robin Straus Agency. (Jan.)