The only author to win all three major Russian literary prizes (including the Russian Booker Prize), Mikhail Shiskin is one of the most acclaimed contemporary Russian literary figures. The Guardian said of Shishkin's writing: "richly textured and innovative. . . arguably Russia's greatest living novelist." In this ly rical novel, two young lovers, Vladimir and Alexandra (known fondly to each other as Vovka and Sashka), are separated. A soldier, Vovka has gone off to help quell the Boxer Rebellion, forcing the two to keep their love alive through a passionate exchange of letters. But as their correspondence continues, it becomes clear that the couple's separation is chronological as well as geographical--that their extraordinary romance is actually created out of, as well as kept alive by, their yearning epistolary exchange, which defies not only space but time. With this contrapuntal literary testament to the delirious, transcendent power of love, Mikhail Shishkin--the most celebrated Russian author of his generation--has created a masterpiece of modern fiction.From the Hardcover edition.