Overview

In the year 2017 in Russia poets and writers are obsolete, class distinctions are painfully sharp, and spirits intervene in the lives of humans from their home high in the mythical Riphean Mountains. Professor Anfilogov, a wealthy and emotionless man, sets out an expedition to unearth priceless rubies that no one else has been able to locate. Young Krylov, a talented gem cutter whom Anfilogov had taken under his wing, is seeing off his mentor at the train station when he is drawn to a mysterious stranger who calls herself Tanya. A scandalous affair ensues, but trouble arises in the shape of Krylovs ex-wife Tamara and a spy who appears at the lovers every rendezvous. As events unfold, Krylov begins to learn more than he bargained for about the women in his life and realises why he recognises the spy from somewhere deep within his past. Meanwhile, Anfilogovs expedition reveals ugly truths about mans disregard for nature and the disasters stemming from insatiable greed.

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9780715644010

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Reviews

'This novel is a breakthrough for Olga Slavnikova. A top class thriller A-- perhaps the first time that an author, for whom style has been the sole concern up to now, has set the storyline wheel spinning with one striking scene after the other. This book could also make a profit for Hollywood' LEV DANILKIN (a literary critic) in AFISHA 'This enigmatic, frenetic, interesting, naive, enchanting, determined, heartrending book is one you have to read and allow it to move you' ANDREI NEMZER (Russian literature researcher and literary critic)

Author Information

Olga Slavanikova was born in 1957 near Ekaterinburg. She won the Russian Booker Prize in 2006 for 2017. She lives in Moscow.

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