Rehearsals

Every novel by Russia’s leading writer is an event!

Vladimir Sharov (1952–2018) is a writer and historian, author of the cult novels “Before and During,” “The Resurrection of Lazarus,” “Be Like Children,” “Old Girl,” “Return to Egypt,” “Kingdom of Agamemnon.” Laureate of the “Russian Booker” and “Big Book” awards.

In “Rehearsals”—as always under Sharov’s pen—Russian history, fused with Biblical plots, takes on completely fantastic features: seventeenth-century Moscow becomes the Promised Land; in the New Jerusalem, Patriarch Nikon and a French director taken prisoner conduct rehearsals of the Second Coming, and people assigned roles repeatedly perform events from the Gospel while awaiting Christ—right up to the mid-20th century, passing the roles from one generation to the next…