Author(s): Sasha Salzmann (translated by Imogen Taylor)

Novel | Translated fiction | Russia

What did the disintegration of the Soviet Union feel like for the people who lived through it? Award-winning writer Sasha Salzmann tells this story in a remarkable novel about two women in extraordinary times

As a child, Lena longs to pick hazelnuts in the woods with her grandmother. Instead, she is raised to be a good socialist: sent to Pioneer summer camps where she’s taught to worship Lenin and sing songs in praise of the glorious Soviet Union. But perestroika is coming. Lena’s corner of the USSR is now Ukraine, and corruption and patronage are the only ways to get by – to secure a place at university, an apartment, treatment for a sick baby.

For Tatjana, the shock of the new means the first McDonald’s in the Soviet Union and certified foreign whisky, but no food in the shops; it means terrible choices about how to love. Eventually both women must decide whether to stay or to emigrate, but the trauma they carry is handed down to their daughters, who struggle to make sense of their own identities.

Glorious People is a vivid depiction of how the collapse of the Soviet Union reverberated through the lives of ordinary people. Engrossing, rich in detail and unforgettable characters, this is a captivating love letter to mothers and daughters.

Review:
 ''A story of several generations of women that poignantly demonstrates the imprint of history on people's lives, often with tragic consequences. Salzmann conveys the emotional turmoil and agonizing choices their characters make with exquisite nuance and sensitivity. Their distinctive voice, elegant prose and engaging narrative result in a marvelous work'' - Victoria Belim, author of The Rooster House
'Glorious People is hypnotic, sweeping, and more relevant than ever. The mothers and daughters of Glorious People will stick with you long after you turn the last page of this mesmerizing, sharp, and devastating novel. They are searching for meaning and belonging as immigrants, mothers, wives, professionals, and citizens of a complex and ever-changing world. This novel offers a fresh take on the Soviet diaspora that offers both a meaningful critique and a semblance of much-needed hope for the future.' - Maria Kuznetsova, author of Something Unbelievable
'In an unflinching examination of mother-daughter ties, Salzmann recreates the lost and newly found world, populating it with powerfully drawn, unforgettable characters. Masterful and haunting' - Elena Gorokhova, author of A Train to Moscow
'[Salzmann] writes in a broad, timelessly epic style. There is a quiet sovereignty here that gives one great hope that we are reading one of the next great German storytellers' - Suddeutsche Zeitung
'A brilliant book... [that] vibrates with the pleasure of narrating' - Neue Zurcher Zeitung

Author Biography: Sasha Salzmann was born in Volgograd in 1985 and grew up in Moscow. In 1995, they emigrated to Germany with their family. Salzmann studied literature, theatre and media at the University of Hildesheim and creative writing for the stage at the Berlin University of the Arts and is now an award-winning playwright, essayist, curator. Salzmann is the co-founder of the culture magazine freitext, was the artistic director of STUDIO? (Best Experimental Stage of the Year 2014). Salzmann's work has been translated, performed and awarded in over 20 countries. Glorious People was longlisted for the German Book Prize 2021. In 2022, Salzmann received the prestigious Hermann-Hesse-Literaturpreis.