Babaza.ru

“Babaza ru” (Babа behind the wheel) is a new collection of short prose by Tatyana Moskvina, where the sharp eye of a journalist combines with the cutting pen of a prose writer; satire intertwines with drama, everyday genre with the story of counterculture. Her heroines are witty and determined, absurd yet defenseless; they went to rock concerts in the eighties, managed to outwit death, found refuge in the convent of the Sister of Sobriety, cooked the best borscht in the world, and in their sixth decade got behind the wheel. Women who drive.

In the very title of the collection, “Babaza ru,” Tatyana Moskvina encoded a rather sexist proverb: “A woman behind the wheel is like a monkey with a pomegranate.” Of course, the author herself doesn’t think so—quite the opposite. Her heroines are women at the wheel. Those who know the rules and live the way they want.

The collection includes entirely everyday stories about women—and for women. The topics are chosen accordingly. Here are two young retirees discussing secrets of making borscht; and here is a 49-year-old woman from a bedroom suburb longing for the times when she went to the Palace of Youth to listen to Tsoi and Bashlachev.

Different destinies intertwine in the book. Ordinary, but no less interesting conversations take place, and completely unpredictable events happen as well. If you love good everyday stories, this book is sure to hit the mark for you.