Dean effortlessly interweaves two stories in this remarkable debut -- Marina's wartime experiences as a young guide at the Hermitage during the seige of Leningrad and the her life as an 82-year old Seattle resident struggling with Alzheimer's. The novel is both a wonderful evocation of the Hermitage and its glories (Marina and her colleagues spirited the art away to the basement of the Hermitage, where all 2,000 employees hid, and of the power of memory.  (RUS360, $13.95)