Married for the First Time

Pavel Nилин’s works have long been part of the golden fund of Soviet prose. His path began in journalism, which explains his precise eye for details, his interest in everyday life, and in the lives of ordinary people. That’s why Nилин’s characters turn out so alive, expressive, and recognizable even today. Popular films were made from his texts—directed by Ivan Pyryev, Konstantin Voynov, and others; in the adaptations, Faina Ranevskaya, Mark Bernes, Vladimir Vysotsky, Oleg Efremov, and more played.

The novella “The First Time Married,” which gave its name to this collection, formed the basis of the famous film by Joseph Heifitz, starring Evgeniya Glushenko and Nikolay Volkov. At the center of the story lies the eternal conflict between generations, the complicated ties between parents and children, mother and daughter.

Antonina, who once worked as a concrete worker and now labors as a cleaner at a research institute, gave her whole life so that she could raise her daughter alone. And what came of it? Years went by, hopes remained dreams, personal happiness never worked out—and the daughter grew up spoiled and selfish, never becoming truly mature. In her own home, Antonina becomes an outsider—like she is locked in a cage with no way out.

And yet Nилин gives his heroine a chance to find happiness—not loud and showy like in the movies, but modest, almost unnoticed, and therefore real.