Molly Gartland’s The Girl from the Hermitage follows the turns of fate over nearly a century of a single family in St. Petersburg, whose lives are forever altered by a portrait assignment.

In some other Wonderland, she may have remained Alice – but when a certain Sirin heard of her plight, his messy meddling left her convinced she was Anya.

Reactions to Mikhail Bulgakov have changed so radically over the past hundred years, it is sometimes hard to believe that they all pertain to the same man – the revered author of The Master and Margarita we know today.

This issue's Uchites language learning section focuses on the ever-mysterious Russian soul and where and how it shows up in phrases and usages.

Death comes in many guises in the two mystery/suspense novels we review in this issue.

If you’re a fan of hairy fairy folk with a hint of пошлость (crass banality), look no further! Russia’s Channel Five recently published two episodes of a supposedly “lost” television show based on “The Lord of the Rings” that was filmed in 1991.

In the Soviet period, artists were treated with esteem and lived comfortably, but their privileged position also required sacrifice.

A review of a new collection of Leskov's stories, and a new translation of Sollogub.

Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov holds a somewhat odd place in Russian literature. He is at once a famous writer, a recognized classic, yet he has not won the same honors granted to the “first tier” writers.

On the 110th anniversary of Lev Tolstoy's death, we look back at his link to cinema: Tolstoy is more closely linked to the history of the cinema than any other writer of his time.

News from around Russia, on everything from bicycles to Bunin, from mystery graves to trolleybuses.

On this, the 300th anniversary of one of literature’s most famous fabulists, we look back at some of Russia’s greatest liars and taletellers.