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Teffi's genius with the short form made her a literary star in
pre-revolutionary Russia, beloved by Tsar Nicholas II and Vladimir
Lenin alike. These stories, taken from the whole of her career,
show the full range of her gifts. Extremely funny - a wry, scathing
observer of society - she is also capable, as capable even as
Chekhov, of miraculous subtlety and depth of character. There are
stories here from her own life (as a child, going to meet Tolstoy
to plead for the life of War and Peace's Prince Bolkonsky, or, much
later, her strange, charged meetings with the already-legendary
Rasputin). There are stories of emigre society, its members held
together by mutual repulsion. There are stories of people
misunderstanding each other or misrepresenting themselves. And
throughout there is a sly, sardonic wit and a deep, compelling
intelligence.
These stories conjure a vanished Russia, where Orthodox
Christianity coexists with the shapeshifters and house spirits of
ancient folk belief. Celebrated for her sublime wit and graceful
style, Teffi here plumbs the darker aspects of psychology, infusing
tales of domestic conflict with the occult spirituality that
thrived in the country of her youth. A young girl, haunted by the
sinister sound of a church bell, resolves to become first a
brigand, then a saint. A reluctant participant in a pilgrimage to
the Solovetsky Islands has a shatteringly profound experience. A
recently married couple's relationship becomes strained as they
each silently nurse the fear that their maid is a witch. By turns
playful and profound, solemn and drily sceptical, these tales of
other worlds precisely illuminate human desires, fears and
failings.
BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week'Wonderfully idiosyncratic, coolly
heartfelt and memorable' William Boyd'One of the great writers of
early 20th Century Russia' Simon Sebag Montefiore'A remarkable
memoir . . . both potent and endearing' Erica Wagner, New Statesman
The writer and satirist Teffi was a literary sensation in Russia
until war and revolution forced her to leave her country for ever.
Memories is a blackly funny and heartbreaking account of her final,
frantic journey into exile across Russia - travelling by cart,
freight train and rickety steamer - and the 'ordinary and unheroic'
people she encounters. Fusing exuberant wit and bitter horror, this
is an extraordinary portrayal of what it means to say goodbye, and
confirms Teffi as one of the most humane, perceptive observers of
her times, and an essential writer for ours.
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