Aetherial Worlds: Stories

In the first story of this new collection, celebrated Russian woman of letters Tolstaya (The Slynx) reflects on how she began writing in the first place. At 32, after undergoing eye surgery, she was blind for three months and could suddenly remember episodes from her life vividly and describe them effortlessly. This fluid remembrance is in full effect in these stories, many of which could be described as personal essays or family histories. "The Invisible Maiden" chronicles the family dacha and its inhabitants, while "A Young Lady in Bloom" recounts her job delivering telegraphs. There are also shorter stories, ruminations on single events, such as the death of a man she almost had an affair with years prior. She also writes lyrically about the connections between artists and writers, as in "The Square," about the painter Kazimir Malevich.