You are presented with the diaries of Anna Akhmatova — the most tormented Russian poetess. What was her life filled with: inflated drama, or genuine suffering? This book reveals all the secrets of her relationships with her son and husband, and the mysteries of her numerous romances. The candid memories of Lydia Chukovskaya, and of Nikolai and Lev Gumilyov, shed light on Akhmatova’s ambiguous personality. And they will show at what cost the poetess beloved by the whole world created her own biography.
“Most boring of all in the world — other people’s dreams and other people’s debauchery...” Anna Akhmatova
“...When I returned, unfortunately I found a woman almost unknown to me... and she met me very coldly, without any concern or sympathy.” Lev Gumilyov on Anna Akhmatova
“God knows what, about Leva. He is a sick man.” Anna Akhmatova on her son
“Sometimes I made her visits, but she did not want me to live either at her place, nor even close to her... And I did not see her again until she was brought to Leningrad, and I organized her funeral and put up a monument for her.” Lev Gumilyov
“My husband Gumilyov, Lev’s father” — excerpts from the diaries of the great poetess Anna Akhmatova, as well as the memories of people close to her. In these words, her fate unfolds page by page.