“Lyudmila Alexandrovna Verkhovskaya turned thirty-six. She’s been married for eighteen years. Both of her daughters—Lida and Lelya—are close in age; they study at a respectable private gymnasium. Lelya is in the class below her older sister. Her son Mitya, a classic case, has just moved into the seventh grade.
Lyudmila Alexandrovna is known as a very tender mother—and especially loves her son. She admits: ‘I’m biased toward him, I know… but what can I do? Mitya is my Benjamin…’”