A Volga Tale

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Pub Date 19 Sep 2023 | Archive Date 25 Sep 2023

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Description

A NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS’ CHOICE

The longest river in Europe, the Volga, divides the continent in two. On one side, mighty mountains, large Russian cities with white stone churches, translucent blue lakes of icy water, a cold wind blowing from the North Sea, and, in the early years of the twentieth century, the winds of momentous change blowing even harder, bringing with them revolution and ideologies that will shape the next two centuries of human history. On the other side, a world that belongs to the past, that is shored up by the vast Western Steppe, where small villages dot vast farmlands and life is perfumed by a hot, fragrant breeze that has its source in the Turkmen desert and the salty Caspian Sea.

Two worlds that could not be further apart. Two worlds that will be brought together when Jakob Bach is hired by Udo Grimm to give lessons to Grimm’s daughter, Klara. The love that grows between Jakob and Klara has unimaginable consequences. Expelled from Gnadenthal when their affair is discovered, they settle in a secluded hamlet hidden deep in the woods to live their lives in peace. But following a tragic episode, Jacob, psychically scarred, is forced to raise his daughter Anche alone. The fairy tales he invents and puts to paper in an effort to forge a bond with his daughter become widely known and slowly life in the German colonies along Volga begins to resemble the stories created by Bach.

In the 18th century, the Russian empress Catherine the Great invited Europeans to immigrate and become Russian citizens and farm Russian lands while maintaining their language and culture. The settlers came mainly from Germany, and following the Russian Revolution, the Volga German Soviet Republic was founded, lasting until 1941, when it was abolished after the Germans invaded the region. In September 1941 all Volga Germans were deported. Over half a million were sent into exile in Siberia and Kazakhstan.

Jacob Bach’s life reflects and foreshadows that of his native colony, Gnadenthal, in this sweeping epic set in the dying years of the 19th century through to the mid-twentieth century of personal tragedy and resilience. In telling a stirring family story, Yakhina also recounts the story of a people, a republic, a nation, a tale that begins in quietude, flows and grows mighty, crosses space and time, like the Volga River itself.

A NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS’ CHOICE

The longest river in Europe, the Volga, divides the continent in two. On one side, mighty mountains, large Russian cities with white stone churches, translucent blue...


A Note From the Publisher

TARGET CONSUMER
- Readers of Eastern European literature and historical novels
- For readers of Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr, Send for Me by Lauren Fox, The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel, The Eighth Life by Nino Haratischwili, I Will Die in a Foreign Land by Kalani Pickhard, and fans of the work of Ludmila Ulitskaya, Olga Tokarczuk

KEY SELLING POINTS
- Winner of the Yasnaya Polyana Literary Award and the Big Book Award in 2015
- Nominated for the Russian Booker Prize, Prix Médicis étranger
An epic and moving retelling of a nation’s history and upheavals through the story of one family

TARGET CONSUMER
- Readers of Eastern European literature and historical novels
- For readers of Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr, Send for Me by Lauren Fox, The Book of Lost Names by Kristin...


Advance Praise

“Drawing from a universal story of national origins, which Yakhina reimagines, embroidering it with golden threads, this book tells a heartbreaking story about places we rarely hear about…an epic river-novel.”—Il Libraio (Italy)

“With poetic and dreamlike language…Yakhina attempts to evoke in the reader the sensation of being a living part of history.”—Toscana Libri

“Drawing from a universal story of national origins, which Yakhina reimagines, embroidering it with golden threads, this book tells a heartbreaking story about places we rarely hear about…an epic...


Marketing Plan

Marketing & Publicity

  • National print publicity
  • Online publicity campaign
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  • Holiday gift roundups
  • Pre-publication consumer outreach
  • Industry bigmouth outreach
  • Social media campaign
  • Influencer outreach
  • National Media Attention, including NPR and Print Features
  • Online Reviews, and Literary Blog Coverage
  • Women’s Magazine Coverage
  • Previous book was well covered.

Marketing & Publicity

  • National print publicity
  • Online publicity campaign
  • Blog campaign
  • Holiday gift roundups
  • Pre-publication consumer outreach
  • Industry bigmouth outreach
  • Social media campaign
  • Influencer...

Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781609459345
PRICE $28.00 (USD)
PAGES 512

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