title: The Ladies from St. Petersburg
author: Nina Berberova
description: A brief but informative Preface by the translator provides a focus for reading these three novellas by a much-praised but little-read writer in the U.S. These three fictions are tellingly rich in their spareness of line; Berberova captures the essence of loneliness, isolation and the courage to continue the journey onward even without clear destination. -- <i>Confrontation, Winter 1999</i><br /><br />A posthumous collection, characterized by lucid prose, deft characterization, and an unromantic gaze at the author's Russian homeland. -- <i>A New York Times Notable Book of 1998; New York Times Book Review, 6 December 1998</i><br /><br />A splendid, tragically beautiful writer capable of drawing unforgettable characters...sublime. -- <i>Los Angeles Times</i><br /><br />As graceful and subtle as Chekhov. -- <i>Anne Tyler</i><br /><br />Nina Berberova possessed a rare talent. The last writer of the post-czarist creative exodus to be discovered by the English-speaking world, the friend of Khodasevich and biographer of Blok, she wrote brilliantly. Unknown outside exile circles for most of her life, at last Berberova's artistry begs its due. This new collection, two early stories and perhaps her last one, ably translated, should appeal to readers for their deft craftsmanship and subtle formal elegance. -- <i>The Review Of Contemporary Fiction, Summer 1999</i><br /><br />These three short stories should establish Nina Berberova-who fled revolutionary Russia for a shaky emigre existence in Paris and New York-as Gogol's, Tolstoy's, and especially Chekhov's most vital inheritor. The spare, exquisite "Ladies from St. Petersburg" and "Zoya Andreyevna" (1927) begin where Chekhov left off, tracing the skittish flight of the threadbare Russian elite from the forces of history. "Big City" (1952) weds Berberova's pining Chekhovian precision to a fresh, kaleidoscopic modern vision. A bracing tonic against contemporary American fictional flab. -- <i>Boston Book Review, December 1998</i><br /><br />Translator Marian Schwartx worked with her on several stories, and this newest English edition, a slim volume that to my mind places her on the same level as Chekhov, is the first to be translated since her death. Everything unfolds with brilliant clarity. Every detail is telling. And the translation is a delight. -- <i>The Jerusalem Post Magazine. 25 December 1998</i><br /><br />[T]hree poignant glimpses into a not-very-far past era, an unadorned and yet elegant hell. -- <i><i>Courier-Gazette</i>, Marilis Hornidge, 26 September 2000</i>
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  © Actes Sud, 1995
  
  
  Translation copyright © 1998 by Marian Schwartz
  
  
  
  
  
  All rights reserved. Except for brief passages quoted in a newspaper, radio,
  or television review, no part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by
  any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or
  by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing
  from the Publisher.
  
  
  
  
  
  Book design by Sylvia Frezzolini Severance
  
  
  Manufactured in the United States of America
  
  
  New Directions Books are printed on acid-free paper
  
  
  First published clothbound by New Directions in 1998
  
  
  Published simultaneously in Canada by Penguin Books Canada Limited
  
  
  
  
  
  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
  
  
  Berberova, Nina Nikolaevna.
  
  
  [Novels. English. Selections)
  
  
  The ladies from St. Petersburg / Nina Berberova; translated by Marian
  Schwartz.
  
  
  p. cm.
  
  
  Contents: The ladies from St. Petersburg—Z