This brought back so many memories for me. I went to Moscow and Leningrad in 1988 as a trip with Art School. This is set later, after the USSR has become Russia, but many of the things that Viv describes: the amazingly empty shops, the babushkas on every hotel corridor corner, the grim buildings and much more, were really evocative for me. When Viv is 20 she lives in Moscow for a year as part of her university degree, teaching English and living with a local family. She meets and falls in love with Bogdan (which translates as Gift of God), a Ukrainian rock musician. While he is off gigging she meets other people, changes jobs, changes who she's living with, and generally it seems, has a (mostly) good time, waiting for the summer, which Bogdan has promised they will spend together in his hometown. It's a long time coming, and when she does finally get there, it's not exactly as she was expecting. One Ukrainian Summer is witty, well written, and captures a particular time and place perfectly.
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