This collection of prose by Yuri Ryabinin (b. 1963), “The Haunted Estate,” combines elements of realism, stylization “in the manner of the 19th century,” detective fiction, and psychological exploration. Each of Ryabinin’s novellas is both a plot puzzle and a piercingly sincere story about the lives of ordinary people drawn into the cruel and fateful movement of history. The time is the eve of great upheavals. World War I and revolution are approaching… A brilliant stylist, Ryabinin anticipated Akunin’s novels and allegorically recast the image of vanished Russia — an almost fairy-tale world left beyond the threshold of a new era. Winner of several literary prizes, including those of the magazines “Moskva” and “Literaturnaya Rossiya”.
Contents:
— The Haunted Estate
— The Fourth Cartridge
— Alexander Vonifatievich
— Incident in the House with a Mezzanine
— The Conspiracy of the Lilliputians
— Entente Cordiale