Glorious People
Sasha Salzmann author Imogen Taylor translator
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Pushkin Press
Publishing:13th Feb '25
£10.99
This title is due to be published on 13th February, and will be despatched as soon as possible.
'A fascinating account of the collapse of the Soviet Union' MARIE CLAIRE
'Masterful and haunting' ELENA GOROKHOVA
For Lena, childhood summers meant training to be a good socialist at Pioneer camp, singing songs in praise of Lenin. But when perestroika shatters her world, all must be unlearned. Lena's corner of the USSR is suddenly Ukraine: there is a McDonalds in Moscow's Red Square and certified foreign whisky, but no food in the shops.
For her friend Tatyana, survival in her changing homeland requires new skills: bullet dodging, business sense and a knack for bribery and corruption. When both women head West in search of new beginnings, their homesickness for a vanished land is inherited by their rebellious daughters, caught between forging their own identities and untangling the rich histories of the mothers who raised them.
'As well as writing eloquently about the breakdown of families, Salzmann sensitively maps their characters attempts to escape the past and forge new lives. . . Deftly translated by Imogen Taylor, the book is an astute, deeply empathetic portrayal of the dislocation of first-generation immigrants and intergenerational trauma' - Financial Times
'Glorious People is hypnotic, sweeping, and more relevant than ever. The mothers and daughters of Glorious People will stick with you long after you turn the last page of this mesmerizing, sharp, and devastating novel. They are searching for meaning and belonging as immigrants, mothers, wives, professionals, and citizens of a complex and ever-changing world. This novel offers a fresh take on the Soviet diaspora that offers both a meaningful critique and a semblance of much-needed hope for the future.' - Maria Kuznetsova, author of Something Unbelievable
'This novel, elegantly translated by Imogen Taylor, takes on themes of memory, migration, language and identity in a narrative partly inspired by Salzmanns own experiences. Historical ruptures, gendered traumas and the difficulty of talking across generations all swirl around this thoughtful novel.' - The Berliner
'An in-depth study of friendship and family relations across two generations. . . truly a book of our times' - The Jewish Chronicle
'A fascinating account of the collapse of the Soviet Union and its fallout over several generations of one extended Ukrainian family and their friends' - Marie Claire, Best Books 2024
ISBN: 9781782279501
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
336 pages