Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Government warnings about radiation levels in her hometown (a stone s throw from Chernobyl) be damned Baba Dunja is going home. And she s taking a motley bunch of her former neighbors with her. With strangely misshapen forest fruits to spare and the town largely to themselves, they have pretty much everything they need and they plan to start anew.
The terminally ill Petrov passes the time reading love poems in his hammock; Marja takes up with the almost 100-year-old Sidorow; Baba Dunja whiles away her days writing letters to her daughter. Life is beautiful. That is until one day a stranger turns up in the village and once again the little idyllic settlement faces annihilation.
From the prodigiously talented Alina Bronsky, this is a return to the iron-willed and infuriatingly misguided older female protagonist that she made famous with her unforgettable Russian matriarch, Rosa Achmetowna, in The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine. Here she tells the story of a post-meltdown settlement, and of an unusual woman, Baba Dunja, who, late in life, finds her version of paradise."
Synopsis
"A short book that will leave a deep mark on your heart."
-The Boston Bibliophile
"Bronsky instinctively understands that the way to a reader's heart is through great characters."-Library Journal
Russian government warnings about radiation levels in her hometown in the Ukraine be damned Baba Dunja is going home. And, one-by-one, her former neighbors decide to join her. With strangely misshapen fruits to spare and the nuclear contaminated town largely to themselves, they have everything they need to live out their remaining years at home and in peace. Life is beautiful, or at least tolerable. That is, until one day a stranger turns up in the village with a young girl in tow who is clearly being used as a pawn in some cruel game.
For the prodigiously talented Alina Bronsky, this is a return to the iron-willed older female protagonist that she made famous with her unforgettable Russian matriarch Rosa Achmetowna, from The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine. Baba Dunja is a gentler, kinder, funnier but no less stubborn version of Rosa. This is a touching story about right standing up to might, about resilience, and about the wisdom of old-age.
"Bronsky writes with a gritty authenticity and unputdownable propulsion."-Vogue
"With quiet understatement, Bronsky offers us a glimpse of life in the radioactive abyss."-Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
A defiant woman and her colorful neighbors reclaim their homes in Chernobyl in this "enthralling story of humor, tragedy, and triumph" (World Literature Today).
There may be government warnings about radiation levels in her hometown of Tschernowo--also known as Chernobyl--but Baba Dunja has returned. And she's brought a motley bunch of her former neighbors with her. With the town largely to themselves, and lots of strangely misshapen fruit, they have everything they need to start anew.
The terminally ill Petrov passes the time reading love poems in his hammock; Marja takes up with the almost 100-year-old Sidorow; Baba Dunja whiles away her days writing letters to her daughter. Life is beautiful. But then a stranger turns up in the village, and once again the little idyllic settlement faces annihilation.
From Alina Bronsky, the acclaimed Russian-born German author of Broken Glass Park and The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine, comes the story of a post-meltdown settlement and an unusual woman who finds her version of paradise late in life.