Eugene Vodolazkin is medievalist, which gives him incredible insight into the medieval Russian mind. That insight is on full display in Laurus, an absolutely gorgeous novel. We see this world through medieval eyes, and this prismatic worldview colors otherwise familiar settings—the forest, rivers, the sea, Venice—with a strange and brilliant newness, as if we're seeing them for the first time.

As one reviewer of Laurus noted, it's very difficult to write a novel with a saintly main character. Vodolazkin achieves this by giving the saint a thoroughly Orthodox mindset: Arseny, the protagonist, is hard on himself and light with others, and is deeply conscious of his own sinfulness. His faith is earthy and grounded, as is the culture he inhabits. The relationships he forms throughout the novel are deeply moving. Vodolazkin's many vignettes are beautifully crafted, and the novel's relationship with time is fascinating.