s twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth annual Russian-American Festivals in Moscow and Boston. Whatever Tskhvediani is writing about — love and disappointments, the destinies of her characters, her childhood, or her numerous travel adventures — her work is permeated with sincerity, kindness, irony, self-reflection, and joie de vivre. The author is an astute observer of our occasionally paradoxical reality.
Tskhvediani is especially grateful to the two people who helped her most in writing this book: her husband, Alexander Babkov, and her friend Levon Babayan.