This unexpected for both the author and the readers book was written by Marietta Chudakova — the famous historian of 20th-century Russian literature, known worldwide as a biographer and connoisseur of Mikhail Bulgakov’s work. An enthralling, fast-moving narrative about dangerous adventures of a young heroine and her loyal friends — Vanya the opera man, Tom Murphy, Skin, Fursik, and many others — begins with the first novel of the trilogy “The Mystery of the Death of Angelique,” continues in the second — “The Portrait of an Unknown in White,” and ends in the third — “The Testament of Lieutenant Zayontchkovsky.”
Real Russia of our day, real risk, real dangers, the most authentic villainy, and the most genuine selflessness, courage, and nobility — that is what draws readers both aged eight and sixteen…