Leila's Travels

Layla comes to herself in a world radically different from the one she knows. Soon the new reality begins to become clearer, but is the heroine ready to accept it—and the role assigned to her? Layla will have to make difficult decisions to remain true to herself and to her principles, which are relevant in both worlds.

“What is, for us, modern times, for the heroine of the novel ‘The Journeys of Layla’ is a distant past or a parallel world—one in which she grows more and more doubtful. Once, Layla was different: an expat with a brilliant resume, a career, and a life—rare for Russian-language literature—a ‘global nomad’ heroine. But all of that turns into a vague memory—or a fantasy?—when Layla comes to herself in a closed clinic hidden in the heart of the Palestinian desert belonging to Dr. Natan son. In the world around her, no one has ever heard of the Holocaust or terrorist attacks in France. Here reign colonialism and racism, resisted by a radical globalist movement. Its participants want to win Layla over to their side, using her ‘memories’ of another world as inspiration to advance their goals—including, with the help of terrorist acts (for example, by repeating an attack at a French resort). However, Layla does not want to support violence. She searches for peace—including from the white nightmares that won’t let her forget that she is an eternal traveler stuck at the crossroads of two worlds.” — Olga Breininger, writer and translator.

“‘The Journeys of Layla’ is a puzzle-book that doesn’t yield itself the first time. The author has precisely captured the essence of contemporary art, supported it with exhaustive knowledge of marketing and public structures, life in the Middle East, and conveyed it through a seemingly fantastic, fantastic story. The book resonates with what I’ve encountered in life, so the sense of presence was especially strong. The novel wins over with the topicality of the questions raised and the depth of their understanding. At the same time, reading it is easy and pleasant. It turned out that it’s not necessary to write about a day, place people in disgusting conditions, or in terrible life situations, in order to reveal their inner world, character, and depth. And to say something important about our world as a whole.” — Ekaterina Baginskaya, art critic.

Danya Zhansi was born in 1985 in Tashkent, grew up in Kazan, lived and worked in Washington, Dubai, Moscow, Samarkand, and Saint Petersburg, and has visited 40 countries. She graduated from the Oxford University summer school for writing skills, took part in Russian forums for young writers, and is a resident of Peredelkino. Her stories have been published in ArtPrive, “Berlin.Berega,” “Kazan,” “Neva,” “NG-Ex libris,” “Prochtenie,” and “Yunost.” Her texts were included in shortlists and longlists for the Dias Valeev, Fazil Iskander, and FIKSHN35 awards.