Nine

With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the rise of free speech (and publishing), Russian women have become a force in the world of letters. Whereas in the past they were known chiefly as literary widows or devoted wives, occasionally as poets or critics, and only very rarely as novelists, today they are beginning to dominate publishing lists in fiction and non-fiction alike. Nine includes three internationally known names--Ludmila Petrushevskaya, Ludmila Ulitskaya, and Svetlana Alexiyevich--as well as half a dozen other respected women authors appearing here for the first time in English. Who and what you will find in Nine: Ludmila Petrushevskaya's absurd middle-aged heroine (in 'Waterloo Bridge') finds she has fallen in love with a character in a movie. Seeing the film again and again, she experiences the romantic love she never had in real life. 'Petrushevskaya's genius consists in her ability to seize on the disparate details of everyday life and render them as a single perfect whole, in which even the most unpalatable reality is made beautiful by the perfection of her art.' Ludmila Ulitskaya's 'Diana' and 'End of the Story' look at women who lie with verve just to escape dreary reality. 'Permeated with a tolerant humorous warmth, Ulitskaya's stories exemplify that strand in the humanist tradition that neither denounces nor deifies, but attempts to understand human psychology in its infinitely numerous manifestations.' Svetlana Alexiyevich, a Byelorussian dissident, constructs powerful narrative collages out of 'live human voices' culled from her interviews with witnesses to and participants in the most shattering national events. 'She follows life rather than trying to invent it and she does so with great talent and keen vision.' Her 'Landscape of Loneliness' shows how tragic social circumstances deprive people of the ability to experience and enjoy love. Olga Slavnikova, a prolific young author from Yekaterinburg, depicts provincial life in a town where most of the men are involved in the illegal mining and cutting of precious stones. 'Krylov's Childhood' combines memorable characters with ethnographic detail. Maria Arbatova--a leading feminist famed for her frank, outspoken and witty style--is Russia's Erica Jong. 'My Name is Woman' takes place in an abortion clinic where the heroine reflects on her failed love affair and women's submissive role in love and life. Nina Gorlanova sets 'Lake Joy' in her native Siberian city of Perm--in the small, closed world of a maternity ward. As a new life is born their suburb is being flooded and they are moved to new homes to start a new life. Anastasia Gosteva takes the reader on an unusual journey around India and America ('Closing Down America'). The heroine's attempt to run away from herself and an unrequited love is in fact a desperate effort to come to terms with who she really is. Margarita Sharapova draws on her unique personal experience as a circus animal tamer to describe the world of popular entertainment. 'Brilliantly crafted, inspired prose. . . unputdownable.' Natalia Smirnova paints a disquieting picture of a provincial town in the Urals where two cultivated women must survive amidst crude working-class surroundings ('The Women and the Shoemakers'). 'Her prose is deep and subtle but by no means female.'