A poetic and fiercely moving Russian novel of tradition, change, and thwarted desire by an internationally celebrated writer from the Indigenous Nenets community of northern Siberia.
On the eve of his wedding, young Alyoshka pines for an earlier love. Ilne chose to leave the nomadic Nenets community seven years before, moving to the city and taking his heart with her. Under increasing pressure to marry, Alyoshka struggles against the ancient Nenets customs of home and family, unwilling to give up his hope for another life.
Meanwhile, other painful transitions shake the foundations of the small camp. Deep in grief, Ilne's father Petko feels he has no role left to play in the community, while Vanu strikes out on a difficult journey to try to soothe his troubled friends.
Deep in northern Siberia, minor human tragedies play out against the cold expanse of the tundra. With bursts of lyricism and a Chekhovian eye for human frailty, Anna Nerkagi crafts a multi-voiced drama of lost love and the clash between youthful dreams and the complex ties of home.
'In its rawness, its sense of an impending apocalypse and its heavy religious allegory, Nerkagi's fiction has few parallels in contemporary Russian literature' - New Statesman
'A world-class writer' - Hamid Ismailov, author of 'The Railway'
