Mother Doll

The Russian Revolution inspired hundreds of retellings, while today mothers provide grist for the mill of contemporary psychological relationship novels. Following her well-received debut, The Deeper the Water the Uglier the Fish, Apekina conflates these domains into a mélange of history, sexual affairs, and the afterlife and produces a tale of four generations of Russian women whose angst, betrayal, and desperation conclude with a striking reconciliation reminiscent of Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath. Living in the Now Generation, Zhenia inherited the traumas of foremothers Irina, Vera, and Marina. Zhenia’s hot, messy life worries her mother and grandmother. Up pops Great-Grandmother Irina from the afterlife, channeling her voice through an enterprising psychic. Over several months, Irina recounts her many unreconciled betrayals during the 1917 revolution, while Zhenia experiences her own betrayals, culminating in the birth of a son.