What did the disintegration of the Soviet Union feel like for the people who lived through it? Award-winning writer Sasha Salzmann tells this story in a remarkable novel about two women in extraordinary times.
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As a child, Lena longs to pick hazelnuts in the woods with her grandmother. Instead, she is raised to be a good socialist: sent to Pioneer summer camps where she's taught to worship Lenin and sing songs in praise of the glorious Soviet Union. But perestroika is coming. Lena's corner of the USSR is now Ukraine, and corruption and patronage are the only ways to get by - to secure a place at university, an apartment, treatment for a sick baby.
For Tatjana, the shock of the new means the first McDonald's in the Soviet Union and certified foreign whisky, but no food in the shops; it means terrible choices about how to love. Eventually both women must decide whether to stay or to emigrate, but the trauma they carry is handed down to their daughters, who struggle to make sense of their own identities.
Glorious People is a vivid depiction of how the collapse of the Soviet Union reverberated through the lives of ordinary people. Engrossing, rich in detail and unforgettable characters, this is a captivating love letter to mothers and daughters.
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PRAISE FOR GLORIOUS PEOPLE:'An astute, deeply empathetic portrayal of the dislocation of first-generation immigrants and intergenerational trauma' Financial Times
'A capacious novel... certainly not short on vibrancy and humour' TLS
'A story of several generations of women that poignantly demonstrates the imprint of history on people's lives... elegant, engaging, marvellous' Victoria Belim, author of The Rooster House
'Glorious People is hypnotic, sweeping, and more relevant than ever' Maria Kuznetsova, author of Something Unbelievable
'An unflinching examination of mother-daughter ties... Masterful and haunting' Elena Gorokhova, author of A Train to Moscow
Industry Reviews
'As well as writing eloquently about the breakdown of families, Salzmann sensitively maps their characters attempts to escape the past and forge new lives. . . Deftly translated by Imogen Taylor, the book is an astute, deeply empathetic portrayal of the dislocation of first-generation immigrants and intergenerational trauma' - Financial Times
'Glorious People is hypnotic, sweeping, and more relevant than ever. The mothers and daughters of Glorious People will stick with you long after you turn the last page of this mesmerizing, sharp, and devastating novel. They are searching for meaning and belonging as immigrants, mothers, wives, professionals, and citizens of a complex and ever-changing world. This novel offers a fresh take on the Soviet diaspora that offers both a meaningful critique and a semblance of much-needed hope for the future.' - Maria Kuznetsova, author of Something Unbelievable
'This novel, elegantly translated by Imogen Taylor, takes on themes of memory, migration, language and identity in a narrative partly inspired by Salzmanns own experiences. Historical ruptures, gendered traumas and the difficulty of talking across generations all swirl around this thoughtful novel.' - The Berliner
'An in-depth study of friendship and family relations across two generations. . . truly a book of our times' - The Jewish Chronicle
'A fascinating account of the collapse of the Soviet Union and its fallout over several generations of one extended Ukrainian family and their friends' - Marie Claire, Best Books 2024
