The Dream Life of Sukhanov

Reminiscent of the novels of Milan Kundera and Nabokov this is the mesmerising, universal story of what happens to our dreams when we grow up.

In Grushin's wonderful novel, the incandescent wealth of Russia's literary heritage blazes

So good, I felt like buying ten copies and sending them to friends . . . a stunning fictional debut

Olga Grushin was born in Moscow in 1971. Her family left for Prague in 1976 and returned to Moscow in 1981. She studied at the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow State University and Emory University. The Dream Life of Sukhanov was shortlisted for both the LA Times Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction and the Orange Prize for New Writers 2006. Olga Grushin now lives in Washington DC with her husband and son and is currently at work on her second novel.

Stepping out into the dusk of a warm Moscow evening, esteemed art critic Anatoly Sukhanov feels on top of the world: his career is glittering, his wife is beautiful and his children are clever. But the year is 1985 and the air is heavy with change. Sukhanov's future will be haunted by doubt. Beset by heartbreaking visions of a past he gave up, he questions his choices: in swapping a precarious life as a brilliant underground artist for comfort and security did he betray his dreams? And if his dreams are lost, what does he have left? 
 
 One of the most highly acclaimed debuts of recent years, The Dream Life of Sukhanov is a work of demonic energy and startling imagery: a new classic.

Olga Grushin

Anna is on her way home from work on a cold winter's day when she sees a crowd queuing at a kiosk. Though a queue is not an unusual sight in a Russian city, this appears different. There's a rumour that famous exiled composer Selinksy is returning to conduct his last symphony for one night only - and this kiosk is selling tickets. 
 
The acquisition of tickets to this concert becomes an obsession in Anna's small family. Her husband, a tuba player in a state band, sees the ticket as a way of embarking on an illicit affair. Their son thinks going to the concert will help him flee to the West on Selinksy's coattails. And Anna? She secretly hopes the ticket will make her husband love her again. 
 
The Concert Ticket is a heartbreaking novel about the secret, profound longings at the heart of a family struggling in a time of great repression.

Olga Grushin

Books by Olga Grushin

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter