Just Send Me Word: A True Story of Love and Survival in the Gulag
"An enchanting marvel that reacquaints our technologically sophisticated but verbally deficient world with the power of the epistle to sustain love in the most trying of circumstances...A gem of a book."--The Boston Globe "Timely and important...What gives Just Send Me Word its power is the intimate, granular detail of Gulag life, of how men and women attempted to create a semblance of normality in the most abnormal of circumstances."--The Daily Beast "A heroic, absolutely astounding love story."--Minneapolis Star-Tribune "Wonderful...Just Send Me Word blends Gulag and sentiment in its loftiest application into a “you- can’t- put- it- down” book and Orlando Figes, a modern master of Russian cultural history, brings off a worthy successor to Natasha’s Dance."--Washington Independent Review of Books "A remarkable love story intertwined with a rare glimpse into a harsh chapter of Soviet history."--Christian Science Monitor "Drawing on more than 1,200 letters between Lev and Svetlana “Sveta” Mishchenko, and interviews with the couple, veteran historian Figes tells a remarkable tale of love and devotion during the worst years of the USSR...His fine narrative pacing enhances this moving, memorable story." --Publishers Weekly(Starred Review) "A heart-rending record of extraordinary human endurance."--Kirkus Reviews“A book to astonish readers:  never before has Stalin’s Gulag been the setting for a love affair.  This powerful narrative by a distinguished historian will take its place not just in history but in literature.”--Robert K. Massie, author ofCatherine the Great"Orlando Figes, a serious scholar who can reach wide general audiences, has done it again...An engaging portrait of a revealing and intimate relationship within almost unimaginable conditions."--History Book Club