Russian Tattoo

This incredibly powerful book slips into your unconscious with charm and warmth and then grabs you by the gut. By the time you reach the end, you’ll have experienced the laughter, sorrow, joy, regret, love and hurt of a real life. And you’ll have a lump in your throat the size of Petersburg. With a magical command of language, Elena Gorokhova has painted images on my brain I won’t forget, as if I’d lived those moments myself. Because, somehow, I did.

Alan Alda, bestselling author of Never Have Your Dog Stuffed

Russian Tattoo is the story of an immigrant, of leaving what you know and love. It is the story of mothers and daughters, of three generations of strong women battling for control. It is about loss and grief, wounds that sever our souls in half and never heal. It is ultimately the story of love, forgiveness, and the desire to belong.

Anya von Bremzen, author of Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking

An affecting and beautifully written meditation on the mother-daughter bond; and on being inextricably caught in limbo between two worlds

Editor’s Choice, The Bookseller

Full of vivid imagery and memorable description, this is a wonderful trip into existential bewilderment ... As a sequel or a stand-alone, Russian Tattoo is compelling, colourful and hugely enjoyable.

Observer

Written with a novelist’s touch ... Gorokhova weaves a rich tapestry of meaning, juxtaposing her current situation with her previous life experience ... The descriptions of life in Leningrad make the memoir a fascinating insight into life behind the Iron Curtain ... Gorokhova’s honesty and unflinching rendering of her life’s trials and tribulations are testament to her writing skill ... One of the most touching memoirs I’ve ever read; I defy you not to shed a tear.

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