Many of the publishers I’ve focused on so far during our #ReadIndies have been UK based; however, the book I’m sharing today is from a press based in Texas, USA – Deep Vellum. Although they’ve been around for a while, I only read my first DV book recently when I was charmed and seduced by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya’s “The New Adventures of Helen“. So when the publisher asked if I’d like to read a new title by another Russian woman author, I was most definitely up for it! The book is “Stories of a Life”, the author Nataliya Meshchaninova and the translator Fiona Bell.

Meshchaninova is a Russian filmmaker whose first directorial outing was in 2014, and she has a number of credits to her name for writing and directing for film and tv. “Stories of a Life” burst onto the Russian literary scene in 2017 and became a sensation, being adopted by the #metoo movement in that country. Reading the stories collected here, it’s not hard to see why…

“Stories…” gathers together seven pieces into what’s described as a ‘memoir-novel’ by the blurb, and these explore pivotal events and experiences from the author’s life. Pretty much auto-fiction then, or veiled memoir, and the writing is direct and powerful from the start. On the second page of the book, where the author’s been introducing her family, she states starkly “There isn’t a single normal person in our family. Sorry in advance.” And as you read through the stories of her life, you see she really wasn’t exaggerating…

Meshchaninova grew up in post-Soviet Russia in the last years of the 20th century and it really doesn’t sound like a pleasant place to be. As a child, she’s basically surrounded by male predators, whether they’re local boys, one of the many stepfathers, older men in the area or even those who present themselves as suitors. This is a world whether there is violence, often shockingly graphic (one part I just couldn’t read and had to put a post it over), and survival is difficult in this brutal setting. Despite having a place to live, and a mother who’s present, Meshchaninova is never safe and as she relates her fears, her secrets, the problems within her family and her complex relationship with her mother, you find yourself thinking it’s a miracle she survived.

Much bitterness is reserved for her second stepfather, Uncle Sasha, who frankly deserves what he gets. Meshchaninova’s adopted sister and that girl’s son also cause havoc in the family, and it’s not hard to see why the author runs like hell from her childhood and so-called family home when she gets the chance. The most tragic thing for me, though, was the horrendous mother-daughter relationship, and Meshchaninova explores that in the final story of the book which is something of an explosion of emotion. Mother-daughter relationships are complex at the best of time (and I know this as I fit on both sides of that equation); but it’s shocking to realise how much of Meshchaninova’s suffering could have been avoided if her mother had actually done something to protect her daughter. Without giving anything away, if my mother had allowed to happen to me what Meshchaninova’s did to her, I would have walked away and never come back. It’s a testament to Meshchaninova that she still tries to maintain a relationship with her parent.

Obviously, “Stories…” is a powerful and often painful read, which quite brilliantly captures the horrors of Meshchaninova’s life in stark, often staccato sentences. Yet, obviously she survived the whole experience and has made a life and career for herself, which is an uplifting result. This howl of a book, though, is a reminder of how easy it is for the position of women in society to slip back into a situation where they’re easy prey for predators. We still need to be vigilant, protecting ourselves and others…