Contemporary Russia “from below” and the trap of the maternal role come together in a novel verging on reportage.

Literary fiction

In her latest book, the Czech Russian expert Jana Guljuškina returns to her favourite subject: modern-day Russia, its inhabitants, and the various forms of aggravated misunderstanding that accompany the culture clash between people from different geographical backgrounds as well as social classes and sociopolitical bubbles. When the main character of this autobiographical novel moves to St Petersburg with her Russian husband and young child for the husband’s work, she has no idea what is in store for her: solitude within the anonymity of the megapolis, bureaucratic bullying, poverty and powerlessness, but also – and most importantly – an increasingly tense political atmosphere and the toxic influence of Putin’s propaganda on family relations, further deepening the misunderstanding. In the midst of all this, she has to come to terms with her new role as a mother and the claustrophobic fate of a housewife, from which there is no escape. While their liberal-minded friends flee, the young family stubbornly remain on the sinking ship of the dictatorship.

Jana Guljuškina (1984) studied Russian language and literature at Charles University in Prague and Masaryk University in Brno. She specializes in contemporary Russian literature.