Mud and Stars

[A] literary romp in the footsteps of [Russia’s "big beast" 19th-century] writers — which does not skimp on detail or seriousness… I approached this book thinking that it would be — along with Elif Batuman’s The Possessedand Viv Groskop’s The Anna Karenina Fix — the third in a recent hattrick of women’s journeys through Russian literature. Wheeler goes beyond these books by travelling to the backwaters of Russia so that we don’t have to — we can continue to travel in the comfort of our armchair through the pages of the masterpieces that the great writers left behind.

Malika Browne, The Times

The image many westerners have of Russia is an unflattering one, heavy on totalitarianism and repression. Sara Wheeler offers an important corrective. Part literary criticism, part travelogue, her fascinating book… is as enthusiastic and authoritative a guide as one could wish for.

Alexander Larman, Guardian

The various stars of the book shine brightly, but they never quite outshine their chronicler… I found Wheeler’s brash humour and courage exhilarating. Mud and Stars is packed with fascinating details.

Frances Welch, Oldie

Wheeler is a determined traveller, roving well beyond the itinerary of tourist Russia… [she has] an insight into a random sample of contemporary Russians – how they live, what they think. The outcome is a book that is enjoyable and enlightening in equal measure.

Penelope Lively, Tablet

Wheeler’s writing is full of…strong detail; her drily witty sentences snap like sushki, the crunchy sugared bread rings Russians east with their coffee. Mud and Stars is a pleasure to read slowly… her modest, ungrand tour, with its rich map of extraordinary writers and "ordinary" Russians…is far more of an epic than it at first appears.

Julian Evans, Daily Telegraph

Well informed and independent-minded… [Mud and Stars is] an intelligent inquiry into the human condition itself… Wheeler is also side-splittingly funny in her breaking of taboos.

Vanora Bennett, Times Literary Supplement

A superlative tour of modern-day Russia and the nation’s great writers, subjects Wheeler combines with panache.

Claire Lowdon, Sunday Times, *Books of the Year*