Review: A Time of Change
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 15, 2013
For many years, the Soviet Union and Russia was a mystery hidden from the West behind the Iron Curtain. When Mikhail Gorbachev came to power, we got a glimpse of what life was like in Russia. Of course, most of the information came through the media, the politicians, and other filtered sources. What makes the book Moscow Dreams by Julia Gousseva so fascinating is that it offers an insider’s view of events that created the new Russia, starting with the attempted coup of 1991.Told from the point of view of Marina, the novel’s young protagonist, the story takes the readers through the events that shaped today’s Russia: from the opening of the first McDonald’s in Moscow to the rumbling of tanks down Moscow’s quiet streets. The story’s atmosphere is real and authentic: the author lived in Moscow at the time and experienced these events first-hand.This novel is an interesting take on the coming-of-age theme: as Marina is changing and maturing, so is her country. Change is a major theme of this unique novel.