Vladimir Sharov is a writer and historian, author of cult novels “Rehearsals,” “Before and During,” “The Old Girl,” “Be Like Children.” He has never been afraid to risk the reputation of a serious prose writer. His favorite technique is historical reality—seemingly flipped upside down, yet never stepping away even one step from Biblical plots.
His new novel “Return to Egypt” is a story told through family letters, a family connected by kinship with… Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol. The 20th century—one person after another; happy and unhappy fates; until the revolution, annual gatherings on a small estate in Little Russia to stage and perform “The Inspector General.” Later, someone dies, others leave, and still others hide.
And there is a strange idea—passed down from generation to generation: write the classic’s poem “Dead Souls,” and Russian history would have taken a different path…