Elena Chizhova is the author of the novels «The Time of Women», the «Russian Booker» prize, «Orest and Son», «The Terracotta Old Lady», «Lavra», «Little Tsaches», «A Half-Blood».
Just as a mushroom doesn’t grow without a mushroom bed, so a person grows out of the past—countries, cities, families. But what if the connection with the parental home takes painful forms? Isn’t it better to break it—thereby changing your life?
In her new book «The Planet of Mushrooms», the main characters are he and she—a man and a woman. A translator mired in routine work, and a fortunate business lady. He is an intelligent person for whom a broken lock is an atrocious problem. She has been used since the age of fifteen to handle everything herself. They seem like creatures from different planets. But are they really so different from each other?