This is one of the worst books I've ever read and I can say that having slogged through all 900+ pages of it. How can an author write so much and say so little? And in the voice of one of the most annoying and shallow narrators I've ever encountered. What a missed opportunity to explore different voices across the century she's writing about! I'd love to read more about the experience of Soviet-era nations, but not if the plot is going to be this dull and the dialogue this stilted.
Also amazed how it seemed like even the author kept forgetting about the chocolate thing and then trying to shoe-horn it in once in a while