Summary

“You can’t make this stuff up.”

So says American writer, Imperial Russian history enthusiast, “Tsar-struck” Romanov junkie, and veteran expatriate, Jennifer Eremeeva, who has lived for the last twenty years in Russia after she fell in love with, and married HRH, her Handsome Russian Husband (though she occasionally thinks of him as her “Horrible Russian Husband”). When Jennifer quits her job at a bank to write full time, she doesn’t have to look far for inspiration, quickly becoming obsessed with the dingy gray building across the courtyard from her apartment. In it, she discovers, Vladimir Lenin’s embalmed corpse is routinely freshened up and preserved. The result is triumphantly hilarious work of literary fiction: LENIN LIVES NEXT DOOR: MARRIAGE, MARTINIS, AND MAYHEM IN MOSCOW

Based on Eremeeva’s two decades of living in the Russian capital, LENIN LIVES NEXT DOOR knits together vignettes of cross-cultural marriage and expatriate life with sharp observation, colorful historical background, and engaging humor. Each thematic chapter is an anecdotal exploration of a specific aspect of everyday life in today’s Russia, told with the help of a recurring cast of eccentric Russian and expat characters, each of whom is trying to successfully navigate the choppy waters of a society in transition, and weather the inevitable cultural clashes that arise over everything from historical interpretations of World War II to the advisability of purchasing health insurance. As Jennifer’s “urban family” steer their way through nightmare jobs at Russian companies, weekends at Russian dachas, through the gridlock of epic Moscow traffic jams, and on package holidays with Russian tourists, a unique portrait of post perestroika Russia emerges that is unlike any of the current books about Russia, which, as Jennifer notes: “…all [have] dust jackets the color of congealed blood or dirty snow and depressing titles referring to Russia’s least cheerful periods.” LENIN LIVES NEXT DOOR peels back layers of mystery, riddle, and enigma to offer readers a delightfully fresh look at the world’s largest country, told by a well-informed outsider, who serves as an entertaining tour guide on this delicious armchair journey to Russia.

LENIN LIVES NEXT DOOR was shortlisted for a total of twelve independent and self-publishing awards and has garnered considerable critical praise.

The author is currently finishing the book’s sequel, which will reunite readers with Jennifer, HRH, and the “urban family” as they confront a rapidly-deteriorating situation in their adopted homeland when Russia annexes Crimea and engages in asymmetrical military conflict with Ukraine.

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Unabridged, Audible Audio Edition