New Adventures of Helen: Magical Tales

“One of Russia’s best living writers . . . Her tales inhabit a borderline between this world and the next.” —The New York TimesAt first glance, the stories in The New Adventures of Helen seems simple, even child-like, but a deep reading reveals satire and darkness manifested through classic fairy tale tropes characteristically upended by Petrushevskaya. These “adult fairy tales” ask deep questions about gender, love, history, memory, and the future, taking place in times between history and the now. These stories, quirky but yet inspired by a confident hopefulness, will inspire and provoke English-speaking readers across the globe.
A new collection of adult fairy tales from New York Times-bestselling Ludmilla Petrushevskaya, Russia’s greatest living absurdist and surrealist writer.