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The Last and the First

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title The Last and the First
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Nina Berberova
Translated by Marian Schwartz
SeriesPushkin Collection
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:256
Dimensions(mm): Height 165,Width 120
Category/GenreClassic fiction (pre c 1945)
ISBN/Barcode 9781782276975
ClassificationsDewey:891.734
Audience
General

Publishing Details

Publisher Pushkin Press
Imprint Pushkin Press
Publication Date 29 July 2021
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

On a crisp September morning, trouble comes to the Gorbatovs' farm. Having fled the ruins of the Russian Revolution, they have endured crushing labour to set up a small farm in Provence. For young Ilya Stepanovich, this is to be the future of Russian life in France; for some of his Paris-dwelling countrymen, it is a betrayal of roots, culture and the path back to the motherland. Now, with the arrival of a letter from the capital and a figure from the family's past, their fragile stability is threatened by a plot to lure Ilya's step-brother Vasya back to Russia. In prose of masterful poise and restraint, Nina Berberova dramatises the passionate internal struggles of a generation of Russian emigres.

Author Biography

Nina Berberova (1901-1993) was a Russian-born writer, academic, editor and translator. Raised in St Petersburg, she left Russia in 1922 and lived in Germany, Czechoslovakia and Italy before settling in Paris. There she published widely in the emigre press and wrote the stories and novels for which she is now known. Berberova emigrated to the United States in 1950 and eventually took up academic posts at Yale and later Princeton. In France she was honoured as a chevalier of l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

Reviews

'[A] unique, harmonious, and brilliant book. Her language is uncommonly strong and pure; her images are magnificent for their solid and precise power... this is literature of the highest quality, the work of a genuine writer' - Vladimir Nabokov 'Haunting... as graceful and subtle as Chekhov' - Anne Tyler, New Republic