Glorious People
Published on 1. February 2024
Book
Hardback
336 pages
978-1-78227-948-8 (ISBN)
Description
What did the disintegration of the Soviet Union feel like for the people who lived through it? Award-winning writer Sasha Salzmann tells this story in a remarkable novel about two women in extraordinary times
As a child, Lena longs to pick hazelnuts in the woods with her grandmother. Instead, she is raised to be a good socialist: sent to Pioneer summer camps where she's taught to worship Lenin and sing songs in praise of the glorious Soviet Union. But perestroika is coming. Lena's corner of the USSR is now Ukraine, and corruption and patronage are the only ways to get by - to secure a place at university, an apartment, treatment for a sick baby.
For Tatjana, the shock of the new means the first McDonald's in the Soviet Union and certified foreign whisky, but no food in the shops; it means terrible choices about how to love. Eventually both women must decide whether to stay or to emigrate, but the trauma they carry is handed down to their daughters, who struggle to make sense of their own identities.
Glorious People is a vivid depiction of how the collapse of the Soviet Union reverberated through the lives of ordinary people. Engrossing, rich in detail and unforgettable characters, this is a captivating love letter to mothers and daughters.
As a child, Lena longs to pick hazelnuts in the woods with her grandmother. Instead, she is raised to be a good socialist: sent to Pioneer summer camps where she's taught to worship Lenin and sing songs in praise of the glorious Soviet Union. But perestroika is coming. Lena's corner of the USSR is now Ukraine, and corruption and patronage are the only ways to get by - to secure a place at university, an apartment, treatment for a sick baby.
For Tatjana, the shock of the new means the first McDonald's in the Soviet Union and certified foreign whisky, but no food in the shops; it means terrible choices about how to love. Eventually both women must decide whether to stay or to emigrate, but the trauma they carry is handed down to their daughters, who struggle to make sense of their own identities.
Glorious People is a vivid depiction of how the collapse of the Soviet Union reverberated through the lives of ordinary people. Engrossing, rich in detail and unforgettable characters, this is a captivating love letter to mothers and daughters.
Reviews / Votes
Glorious People suggests you can feel as alienated in your country of birth as in your adopted homeland. Deftly translated by Imogen Taylor, the book is an astute, deeply empathic portrayal of the dislocation of first-generation immigrants and intergenerational trauma * Financial Times * This is a novel about mothers and daughters - from the 1970s to the near present - and stretching from the corrupt hospitals and semi-legal whisky stores of small-town Ukraine to the queer scene in Berlin . . . a capacious novel . . . certainly not short on vibrancy and humour * TLS * 'A story of several generations of women that poignantly demonstrates the imprint of history on people's lives, often with tragic consequences. Salzmann conveys the emotional turmoil and agonizing choices their characters make with exquisite nuance and sensitivity. Their distinctive voice, elegant prose and engaging narrative result in a marvelous work' -- Victoria Belim, author of The Rooster House This novel, elegantly translated by Imogen Taylor, takes on themes of memory, migration, language and identity in a narrative partly inspired by Salzmann's own experiences. Historical ruptures, gendered traumas and the difficulty of talking across generations all swirl around this thoughtful novel * Berliner * 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 In an unflinching examination of mother-daughter ties, Salzmann recreates the lost and newly found world, populating it with powerfully drawn, unforgettable characters. Masterful and haunting -- Elena Gorokhova, author of A Train to Moscow The book covers decades, but the sparky, succinct style means it never feels rushed * Guardian * [Salzmann] writes in a broad, timelessly epic style. There is a quiet sovereignty here that gives one great hope that we are reading one of the next great German storytellers * Sueddeutsche Zeitung * An in-depth study of friendship and family relations across two generations... truly a book of our times * Jewish Chronicle * A brilliant book... [that] vibrates with the pleasure of narrating * Neue Zuercher Zeitung * Not only a sobering portrait of the late Soviet era, but also a remarkable family novel that draws on the experiences of loss made by strong female characters ... An award-worthy book * SWR2 * Convincing in its intense and richly pictorial language, offers a different version of the narrative, a perspective beyond cliches and what has been read hundreds of times before * neues deutschland * Rarely has there been such a comprehensive and personal vivid description of how the end of the USSR continues to affect people to this day * der Freitag * The sensually concrete language, which does justice to the abundance of impressions and feelings at all times, is worthy of praise. Unconventional, allegorically charged images recur and make an impression * Der Tagesspiegel * An exciting look beyond our borders towards the East and back, by an award-winning author * Brigitte Woman * Glorious People [is] impressive sensitive and unsparing * Juedische Allgemeine Zeitung *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Dimensions
Height: 220 mm
Width: 139 mm
Thickness: 33 mm
Weight
446 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78227-948-8 (9781782279488)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
02/2024
Pushkin Press
€11.99
Available for download
Persons
SASHA SALZMANN was born in Volgograd in 1985 and grew up in Moscow. In 1995, they emigrated to Germany with their family. Salzmann is an award-winning playwright, essayist, curator, and co-founder of the culture magazine Freitext and their work has been translated and performed in over 20 countries. Glorious People was longlisted for the German Book Prize 2021. In 2022, Salzmann received the prestigious Hermann-Hesse-Literaturpreis and the Preis der Literaturhaeuser.