{"product_id":"book-dpsp","title":"A Russian Sister","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn\u003cbr\u003ethis witty and colourfully peopled novel, Caroline Adderson effortlessly\u003cbr\u003eplunges the reader into a nineteenth-century Russian tragicomedy. Aspiring\u003cbr\u003epainter Masha C. is blindly devoted to Antosha, her famous writer-brother. Through\u003cbr\u003ethe years Antosha takes up with numerous women from Masha’s circle of friends,\u003cbr\u003eyet none of these relationships threaten the siblings’ close ties until the\u003cbr\u003ewinter he falls into a depression. Then Masha invites into their Moscow home a young\u003cbr\u003ewoman who teaches with her—the beautiful, vivacious and deeply vulnerable Lika\u003cbr\u003eMizanova—with the express hope she might help Antosha recover.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe\u003cbr\u003eappearance of Lika sets off a convolution of unrequited love, jealousy and\u003cbr\u003escandal that lasts for seven years. If the famously unattainable writer has\u003cbr\u003elost his heart to Lika as everyone claims, why does he undertake a\u003cbr\u003elife-threatening voyage to Sakhalin Island? And what will happen to Masha if\u003cbr\u003eshe is demoted from “woman of the house” to “spinster sister”? While Antosha and\u003cbr\u003eLika push and pull, Masha falls in love herself—with a man and with a mongoose—only\u003cbr\u003eto have her dreams crushed twice. From her own heartbreak Masha comes to recognize the harm that she has\u003cbr\u003edone to her friends by encouraging their involvement with Antosha, but it is\u003cbr\u003etoo late for Lika, who will both sacrifice herself for love and be immortalized\u003cbr\u003eas the model for Nina in Chekhov’s \u003cem\u003eThe Seagull.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eA Russian\u003cbr\u003eSister\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003eoffers a clever commentary on the role of women as prey for male needs and inspiration,\u003cbr\u003ea role they continue to play today. At the same time the novel is a plea for\u003cbr\u003esisterhood, both familial and friendly. Chekhov’s \u003cem\u003eThe Seagull\u003c\/em\u003e changed the theatre. \u003cem\u003eA Russian\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cem\u003eSister \u003c\/em\u003egives\u003cbr\u003ethe reader a glimpse behind the curtain to the fascinating real-life people who\u003cbr\u003einspired it and the tragedy that followed its premiere.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"HarperCollins","offers":[{"title":"Audiobook","offer_id":49344394658096,"sku":"BDdpsp","price":28.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0879\/2784\/9264\/files\/dpsp-Square-cover.jpg?v=1778666717","url":"https:\/\/downpour.com\/products\/book-dpsp","provider":"Downpour","version":"1.0","type":"link"}