Two women sit side-by-side on the edge of a bed as night falls. Both emigrated from the Soviet Union at the age of 7. Neither speak. The silence between them is filled with hidden messages. Their small bedroom houses generations of Soviet diasporas, from the displaced indigenous people of Siberia to the Jewish refugees of the 90s and the queer Ukrainians fleeing war today. The narrator asks: what does it mean to have hope?
Sexy and readable [...] This is a story of one night, but you could equally describe it as a 182-page love letter; a celebration of resilience and of myriad survivors; a troubling history of LGBTQ+ communities in Eastern Europe; and a lament for lost homelands, and all the other losses that ensue [...] If you love the Beats, you may find yourself loving Yelena Moskovich's night in Berlin even more
Times Literary Supplement
Times Literary Supplement