Winner of the Prix Goncourt and Prix Médicis: "[One of the] great novels of this century" (Donald Newlove, The Philadelphia Inquirer).

Hailed as extraordinary from coast to coast, this bestselling novel by National Book Critics Circle Award finalist Andreï Makine traces a sentimental journey that embraces many of the dramatic events in Russia during the twentieth century.

Here is a poignant story of a Soviet boy's ascent into manhood, and his extraordinary affection for his mysterious grandmother, who captivates him with vivid stories of her childhood in France—a distant country far more elegant, carefree, and stimulating than Russia in the 1970s and '80s. This epic tale is full of tenderness and passion, pain and heartbreak; mesmerizing, in every way.

"Skillfully constructed and elegantly written . . . A major novel." —Victor Brombert, The New York Times Book Review