The Flight (Pushkin Collection)

About this book

While summering on the French Riviera the young Seryozha secretly becomes the lover of the much older Liza - who is also his fathers mistress. As autumn approaches they reluctantly part: Liza to return to Paris Seryozha to take up his studies at university in London. When he finds out about their affair Seryozhas father attempts to convince Liza to leave his son for the sake of the boys own happiness. She finally gives in - but a sudden fatal catastrophe changes everything... Gazdanovs second novel is proof of his wide-ranging talents: written before his celebrated noir experiments The Spectre of Alexander Wolf and The Buddhas Return The Flight is a lyrical chamber play in prose. Mixing psychological drama illicit romance and moments of both comedy and pathos it is a modernist take on the traditional Russian nineteenth-century realist novel epitomised by Tolstoy - with distinct echoes of Thornton Wilders The Bridge of San Luis Rey.