The Time of Women - Elena Chizhova - Guest Book Review

Translated from the Russian by Simon Patterson with Nina Cordas

Published by Glagoslav

Guest book review by Mandy Jenkinson

On the surface this is a simple, domestic tale. Three elderly women are raising a little girl, Sofia, the illegitimate daughter of factory worker Antonina, who has been lucky enough to be allocated a room in the “grannies’” communal flat. While Antonina goes to work, often accepting double shifts, to support the makeshift family, the grannies tell their stories to little Sofia and reminisce about their lives, filling her head with images from Russia’s troubled past. Each of the old women has suffered immeasurably during the war and siege of Leningrad, losing homes and families. Now they pour all the love they have into the little girl.

Life is hard. The novel poignantly and vividly captures the atmosphere of 1960s Soviet life – the daily drudgery to find enough food, the endless queues, the excitement of finding fabric to make a dress and managing to jump the queue and get a TV, the difficulties of washing and doing the laundry without a bathroom. And interspersed with the minutiae of daily life are the memories of the old ladies and the unbelievable struggle they had to survive during the Siege, the hunger, the deaths, the cold. Much of the action takes place in the flat, but we are also taken to Antonina’s factory, to the shops, the church, the nursery where Sofia goes before the grannies take over.

With these three generations of women the reader has a moving and compelling account of life in Soviet Russia, all told from a feminine perspective. Men are pretty much absent from the book, or if there, then pretty unsatisfactorily. It’s certainly a grim story but ultimately one of hope and renewal. Antonina doesn’t have to suffer as much as the grannies did. Sofia will not have to suffer as much as her mother did. She will have choices none of them could have dreamt of, and she will remember them with affection and gratitude.

This is a rich and multi-faceted novel and a must-read for anyone wanting to learn more about life in the Soviet Union. It’s not always an easy read, as it frequently switches between the narrative voices, and it’s not always immediately clear whose voice we are hearing. Passages of stream of consciousness need to be read slowly and carefully to fully follow what’s happening. And it certainly helps to have some knowledge of the historical background before starting. However, these are minor criticisms of a book that I very much enjoyed and one that I look forward to reading again.  It captures perfectly the atmosphere and environment of a particular place and time with compassion and empathy, and the characters come alive and linger in the imagination long after the reader finishes the last page. A fascinating and immensely enjoyable book and a worthy winner of the Russian Booker.

Many thanks to Mandy for reading and reviewing this novel for The Little Reader Library. Mandy is an omnivorous reader who enjoys reviewing, for newbooks magazine as well as elsewhere, and enjoys discovering new authors.

Road Ends - Mary Lawson

(This is a book I read and wrote the review for a little while ago, but kept back until nearer the publication date.)


This is the third novel by Canadian-born writer Mary Lawson. It tells of twenty-five-year-old Tom Cartwright, his sister Megan, and their father Edward, and the rest of their large family, in Struan, a small town in northern Canada. The paths of the three characters that Lawson focuses on run parallel, moving back and forwards in time a few years apart, each strand gradually reveals itself, and then the three are brought together as events very cleverly converge.

It’s the 1960s, Tom is intelligent and had a promising career ahead of him as an aeronautical engineer, but is withdrawn and hides himself away after the tragic death of his friend. Megan has at last escaped, to London, but worries for the welfare of her mother and brothers; as the only daughter, and with her mother only managing to care for her latest baby, the rest of the family of boys and men were under her care before she left. Edward looks back on his difficult memories of a violent father, and explores the remaining extracts of his mother’s diaries that recall the Ontario silver rush of the 1900s. He struggles to connect with his own family; he has regrets and wonders how his life got to where it is now, he hides away in his study and dreams of traveling, not noticing what is happening to his family.

Each of the three main characters is honestly, convincingly and roundly portrayed. Road Ends is beautifully written; a well-crafted, evocative tale that slowly captivates the reader, an eloquent, measured and touching story of tragedy, regret but also hope, and of the longing for independence and the chance to follow individual dreams, versus a sense of duty and responsibility.

I felt warmth and compassion towards these people; Mary Lawson conveys their dreams and sadness with poignancy and sincerity. I was intrigued by Edward’s past, by whether Tom’s life would change, and by Megan’s strength, her bravery and independence in coming to England and forging her own career. The locations are vividly realised; I could almost feel the wintery weather in Canada; she brings the surroundings to life and the landscape has a real part to play. I loved Mary Lawson’s previous novels and I relished the fine storytelling by her here once again. It is a captivating novel and a joy to read.

Published by Chatto and Windus
Reviewed for WeLoveThisBook