I am sorry to report that this book left me cold. I place some of the blame on the translation, which did not seem fluid (and in a few places, the English seemed flat out wrong), but it’s very hard to know how much of what I didn’t care for was the translation and how much was Ulitskaya. I rather suspect that this reads much better in Russian. I never warmed to the protagonist—Sonechka herself—and by the time I had finished this novella, I was more relieved than anything else. The story line is uncomplicated: we meet Sonechka as a young, introverted bookworm and follow her as she marries, becomes a muse and then a mother, sublimating her own interests to domesticate herself, dedicating her life to her husband and daughter. The much-older husband eventually immerses himself in his art…and then with a young woman who has been absorbed into the family, ostensibly as the daughter’s friend. As Sonechka deals in turn with love, loss, and neglect (by both her husband and her daughter), whether Ulitskaya has something to say—at least based solely on this book—remains in doubt. I will try again soon, but this hasn’t given me great cause for optimism. ( )

She opened up towards his arms, and yet another, final life began for Robert Victorovich.

The title novella is truly plangent. The next story is almost a refraction of the former's themes. The concluding piece rang familiar to me personally. There is a deft sense here of deprivation and human yearning. The time covered is largely after the Great Patriotic War and the early 1970s: the threat of the Terror had been reduced and the Revolution was something no one regarded as impending. The pages almost emit a smell, one sour and desperate. ( )

After having read the title story, I am delighted by Ulitzkaya's voice. The story covers years, and the tone is refreshingly ironic without being bitter. The two unlikely main characters, husband and wife, emerge from deprivation and trouble into a strange kind of happiness. The heroine reminds me of Checkov's The Darling- a woman so loving and foolish that no amount of rejection penetrates her nimbus. The heroine ends by taking her husband's mistress into her life like a daughter. It is very strange, but quite believable. I look forward to more of her work. ( )

Orosz nőről.... ( )