The Flood Zone

A new sharply social novel from the author of the bestseller “Yeltyshevs” about the construction of the Boguchany Hydroelectric Power Station. The book enters into a dialogue with Valentin Rasputin’s well-known novella “Farewell to Matyora.” The dedication to Valentin Rasputin opens the novel. Roman Sencin has a reputation as an author who masterfully raises sharp social questions and possesses his own distinctive style. Winner and finalist of the “Big Book,” the “Russian Booker,” the “National Bestseller,” and “Yasnaya Polyana” awards.

In his new novel “The Flooding Zone,” residents of old Siberian villages are being hurriedly resettled into a city—this is where the Boguchany Hydroelectric Power Station will be built. The author is not afraid of drawing a parallel to “Farewell to Matyora”—the dedication to Valentin Rasputin opens the novel. People of the “zone”—including hereditary peasants and those exiled in Stalin’s time who found here their small homeland—protest, rebel, or resign themselves. Two worlds: the Atlantis of people’s life disappearing under water, and the soulless machine of a new bureaucracy…

About the author: Roman Sencin is a writer, author of novels “Yeltyshevs,” “Information,” “Minus,” “Nubuk,” collections of short stories “Idzhim,” “A Day Without a Number,” “Absolute Solo,” and others. His books made shortlists for literary awards including the “Big Book,” the “National Bestseller,” the “Russian Booker,” etc. Winner of the “Yasnaya Polyana” awards, the Government of the Russian Federation in the field of culture, the “Vents” award, and others.

Reviews: “The tragedy of forced resettlement from well-settled Siberian lands into depressed small towns is comparable only to the consequences of the biblical Flood…” Olga Kurgina, Krasnoyarsk.

Key words: novel, Roman Sencin, fiction novel, social novel, social prose, flooding, construction, hydroelectric power station, resettlement, homeland, village, city, Valentin Rasputin, Farewell to Matyora.