The Time: Night

First published in Russia in 1992, The Time: Night is a darkly humorous depiction of the Soviet utopia's underbelly by one of the most brilliant stylists in contemporary Russian literature. Anna Andrianova is a trite poet and disastrous parent. Heading a household dominated by women, she can cling to the myth of the all-powerful yet suffering Russian matriarch. Challenging that myth is her headstrong daughter Alyona, a woman with appalling judgment and several illegitimate children, who both needs Anna and hates her.

Praise for Ludmilla Petrushevskaya: "A wonderfully talented and significant writer. . . . The Time: Night is a perturbing and revealing novel." --John Bayley

"The writing is beautifully controlled and the spirit large. . . . She deserves a wide readership." --Times Literary Supplement