August 1991. In a sweltering New York City apartment, a group of Russian emigres gathers round the deathbed of an artist named Alik, a charismatic character beloved by them all, especially the women who take turns nursing him as he fades from this world. Their reminiscences of the dying man and of their lives in Russia are punctuated by debates and squabbles: Whom did Alik love most? Should he be baptized before he dies, as his alcoholic wife, Nina, desperately wishes, or be reconciled to the faith of his birth by a rabbi who happens to be on hand? And what will be the meaning for them of the...
August 1991. In a sweltering New York City apartment, a group of Russian emigres gathers round the deathbed of an artist named Alik, a charismatic cha...
Medea Georgievna Sinoply Mendez is an iconic figure in her Crimean village, the last remaining pure-blooded Greek in a family that has lived on that coast for centuries. Childless Medea is the touchstone of a large family, which gathers each spring and summer at her home. There are her nieces (sexy Nike and shy Masha), her nephew Georgii (who shares Medea's devotion to the Crimea), and their friends. In this single summer, the languor of love will permeate the Crimean air, hearts will be broken, and old memories will float to consciousness, allowing us to experience not only the shifting...
Medea Georgievna Sinoply Mendez is an iconic figure in her Crimean village, the last remaining pure-blooded Greek in a family that has lived on that c...
Translated from the Russian by Diane Nemec Ignashev
The central character in Ludmila Ulitskaya s celebrated novel The Kukotsky Enigma is a gynecologist contending with Stalin s prohibition of abortions in 1936. But, in the tradition of Russia s great family novels, the story encompasses the history of two families and unfolds in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and the ruins of ancient civilizations on the Black Sea. Their lives raise profound questions about family heritage and genetics, nurture and nature, and life and death. In his struggle to maintain his professional integrity and...
Translated from the Russian by Diane Nemec Ignashev
The central character in Ludmila Ulitskaya s celebrated novel The Kukotsky Enigma ...
Named a Must-Read Book by New York Magazine, Travel+Leisure, Flavorwire, and Bustle Long-listed for the 2016 Best Translated Book Award in Fiction
With epic breadth and intimate detail, Ludmila Ulitskaya's remarkable work tells the story of three school friends who meet in Moscow in the 1950s and go on to embody the heroism, folly, compromise, and hope of the Soviet dissident experience. These three boys---an orphaned poet, a gifted yet fragile pianist, and a budding photographer with a talent for collecting...
Named a Must-Read Book by New York Magazine, Travel+Leisure, Flavorwire, and Bustle ...
