Glorious People

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR (MARIE CLAIRE): A sweeping historical fiction novel about the fall of the Soviet Union, told through the eyes of Ukrainian mothers and daughters over 4 decades

“An astute, deeply empathic portrayal of the dislocation of first-generation immigrants and intergenerational trauma”  — Financial Times

In this stunning work of political historical fiction, loaded with “vibrancy and humour”, the collapse of the Soviet Union reverberates throughout multiple generations of 2 families—presaging and foreshadowing conflicts in Russia's Ukraine War (TLS).

As a child, Lena longs to pick hazelnuts in the woods with her grandmother. Instead, she is raised to be a good socialist: sent to Pioneer summer camps where she's taught to worship Lenin and sing songs in praise of the glorious Soviet Union. But perestroika is coming. Lena's corner of the USSR is now Ukraine, and corruption and patronage are the only ways to get by—to secure a place at university, an apartment, treatment for a sick baby.

For Tatjana, the shock of the new means the first McDonald's in the Soviet Union and certified foreign whisky, but no food in the shops; it means terrible choices about how to love. Eventually both women must decide whether to stay or to emigrate, but the trauma they carry is handed down to their daughters, who struggle to make sense of their own identities.

Engrossing, rich in detail, and full of unforgettable characters, this is a captivating love letter to mothers and daughters from one of Europe’s most powerful voices in political fiction.

Story Locale:Ukraine and Berlin

About the Author

Sasha Salzmann was born in Volgograd in 1985 and grew up in Moscow. In 1995, they emigrated to Germany with their family. Salzmann is an award-winning playwright, essayist, curator, and co-founder of the culture magazine Freitext and their work has been translated and performed in over 20 countries. Glorious People was longlisted for the German Book Prize 2021. In 2022, Salzmann received the prestigious Hermann-Hesse-Literaturpreis and the Preis der Literaturhäuser.

Imogen Taylor is a London-born translator who lives in Berlin. Her translation of Sasha Salzmann’s Beside Myself was shortlisted for the 2021 Helen & Kurt Wolff Translator’s Prize and the Schlegel-Tieck Prize 2020.

Author Residence: Berlin, Germany

Author Hometown: Volgograd, USSR