Schukinsk and Other Places
Schukinsk and Other Places, the new novel
by the young and provocative Russian writer Elena
Nekrasova, starts with the fascinating story
of a Russian immigrant Eugine who lives a boring life on an American pig farm with
his pig-like wife. She drives him crazy and he finds a peculiar consolation in
writing a porno blog. Anyway he grabs the first opportunity to run away with a
masonry obsessed rich guy as his assistant.
Meanwhile on the other side of the world, in a Russian
provincial town Schukinsk Eugine’s half-sister, a girl of 18 – neglected by him for years – desperately
needs help. Her mother just passed away and she is lonely as can be. Here comes
the mystical part of the plot. The girl feels a certain presence in her house
which appears to be haunted. She decides to lend one room to a charming couple.
But could she imagine it was part of the plan to involve her into the local
swingers club?
One needs quite elaborate imagination and
sophisticated writing skills to put together all the lines of the story. And
Elena Nekrasova brilliantly blends together adventure, family drama and
heart-racing love-story into a thrilling novel of a human soul’s seeking its
way to freedom. With its realistically
conflicted characters, sexual tension and humor it is no doubt Schukinsk
and Other Places will become a remarkable
event of the new Russian prose.
Fluid Publishing
House
Annotation
Elena Nekrasova is a new name in the modern literature already recognized by literary critics and readers. The “Shchukinsk and the Cities” is her second book, an intellectual thrilling novel covering many topics: Arkansas farmers’ daily life and shocking internet blogs, noisy New-York and mysteries of a provincial town of Shchukinsk. Different cities are changing each other very quickly: Vienna, Odessa, Moscow, Tolyatti… There are many encounters in the city crowd, some of which lead to love affairs, some to nightmares, whereas the others help people to understand themselves better.