Spanning 80 tumultuous years, the incredible story of a peasant girl who became the Red Princess of the Russian Revolution. Anna Mayakovsky is now a penniless old woman living in London, but no one can take away the vivid memories of her past: the Count who lifted her out of poverty; the Count's son, Misha, whose baby she bore; Paul, the ruthless factory owner who became her lover and her deadliest enemy; Sasha, the tough but gentle peasant who converted...

As a young girl spends time at her grandmother's apartment, she is treated to traditional Jewish tales, including "Bavsi's Feast," "The Golden Shoes," "The Garden of Talking Flowers," and "A Phantom at the Wedding."

When the love of her life goes off to war and never returns, Vera pines away for her lost fella and refuses to consider anyone else for over thirty years. However, when a young researcher comes to her village and finds out about her and falls in love with her, can he convince Vera that his love is true?

This translation has been made from the Russian text of the Soviet Academy of Sciences edition, volumes six and seven (Leningrad, 1973). Quotations from Dostoevsky's letters and notebooks in the foreword are from Konstantin Mochulsky, Dostoevlky: His life and Work, translated by Michael A. Minihan (Princeton, N.J.:Princeton University Press, 1997).

While digging the foundation for a communal apartment block, a group of industrial workers believe they are laying the foundations for a radiant future. But when some of them are drafted to help start the collectivization in a village of reluctant peasants, their lives quickly turn murderous and alienated.

An orphaned poet, a gifted pianist and a budding photographer meet in a mid-20th-century Moscow school and eventually embody the heroism, folly, compromise and hope of the Soviet dissident experience.