
Not Russian
A novel
Mikhail Shevelev(Author)
Europa Editions (UK) Ltd (Publisher)
Published on 2. November 2023
Book
Paperback/Softback
160 pages
978-1-78770-487-9 (ISBN)
Description
A gripping, illuminating novel about recent Russian aggressions and the humans caught in the crossfire.
?One evening in 2015, journalist Pavel Vladimirovich and his wife Tatyana are at home when the news breaks that there has been a terrorist attack. Over a hundred people have been taken hostage in the Church of the Epiphany in the village of Nikolskoye near Moscow. As they watch, on the TV screen appears the face of one of the terrorists: Vadim Petrovich Seryegin, an old friend of Pavel's.
The friendship between the two men evolved through periods of conflict, war, peace, emigration, and isolation. Pavel may be one of Vadim's only friends, and when others realize this, he is asked to negotiate with Vadim.
The Church is horrifyingly silent when Pavel enters. Vadim welcomes Pavel but refuses to capitulate. As the stakes get higher and higher, Vadim's story including his connection to the wars in Chechnya and the Ukraine is revealed and it becomes clear that the first meeting between the two men was not all it first seemed to be to Pavel.
Back in the church, Pavel learns that the terrorists have one and only one demand, and that it concerns the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin.
?One evening in 2015, journalist Pavel Vladimirovich and his wife Tatyana are at home when the news breaks that there has been a terrorist attack. Over a hundred people have been taken hostage in the Church of the Epiphany in the village of Nikolskoye near Moscow. As they watch, on the TV screen appears the face of one of the terrorists: Vadim Petrovich Seryegin, an old friend of Pavel's.
The friendship between the two men evolved through periods of conflict, war, peace, emigration, and isolation. Pavel may be one of Vadim's only friends, and when others realize this, he is asked to negotiate with Vadim.
The Church is horrifyingly silent when Pavel enters. Vadim welcomes Pavel but refuses to capitulate. As the stakes get higher and higher, Vadim's story including his connection to the wars in Chechnya and the Ukraine is revealed and it becomes clear that the first meeting between the two men was not all it first seemed to be to Pavel.
Back in the church, Pavel learns that the terrorists have one and only one demand, and that it concerns the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin.
Reviews / Votes
"A taut, elegiac political thriller and a fierce swipe at Putin's efforts to make Russia great again." * Kirkus Reviews * "Shevelev does a great job distilling recent history into a tragic human drama." * Publishers Weekly *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (UK-trade)
Dimensions
Height: 208 mm
Width: 130 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
174 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78770-487-9 (9781787704879)
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
Persons
Born in 1959, Mikhail Shevelev graduated from Moscow Institute of Foreign Languages in 1981. A translator, interpreter, and former deputy editor for The Moscow News, he currently works as a freelance journalist covering political and social issues in Russia for Radio Liberty. After 2014 he has not collaborated with Russian state and private media. He is the author of two novels and several collections of short stories, which have been translated into several languages. In 2021, he was awarded the Isaac Babel Prize (Ukraine).
Brian James Baer is the founding editor of the journal Translation and Interpreting Studies and the author of the monograph Other Russias (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009).
Ellen Vayner has translated short stories, magazine interviews, and a conceptual artistic project. Together with Brian James Baer, she has translated Red Crosses by Sasha Filipenko (Europa, 2021) and Sacred Darkness by Levan Berdzenishvili (Europa, 2019).
Brian James Baer is the founding editor of the journal Translation and Interpreting Studies and the author of the monograph Other Russias (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009).
Ellen Vayner has translated short stories, magazine interviews, and a conceptual artistic project. Together with Brian James Baer, she has translated Red Crosses by Sasha Filipenko (Europa, 2021) and Sacred Darkness by Levan Berdzenishvili (Europa, 2019).