Medea and Her Children, by Ludmila Ulitskaya. Published 2002 Schocken Books. Literary fiction. Translated from the Russian.
Medea and Her Children is
an engrossing multi-generational tale about a large extended
Soviet-Greek family living in and around the Crimea, a region of the
former Soviet Union now part of Ukraine and located near the Black Sea.
The Sinoply family is made up of thirteen siblings and although novel
concentrates on just a few, along with their lovers, spouses and
children, Ulitskaya has created a universe inside a small community. The
irony of the title is that Medea, an elderly widow living alone near
the sea, is childless.
But since she lives by the sea, her home is the unofficial family center
and her relatives, now scattered to all corners of the former Soviet
Union, float in and out all summer long, visiting her and each other.
The narrative is concerned with the ebb and flow of lusts, loves and
affections through the years; the structure is somewhat loose and veers
back and forth between the past and present, as we watch the cast of
characters interact- coming together and coming apart. These characters
include Medea herself, a dependable and dutiful widow, her vivacious
sister Alexandra, Alexandra's granddaughter, the tragic Masha, Masha's
lover, the athlete Butonov, and many others. We also hear Medea's love
story- the story of her marriage with Jewish dentist Samuel, and we
learn that everyone has secrets.
Thematically, the novel is about the influence of the past over the
present, and how events and feelings swirl and mix and come back
together over time. Medea and Her Children also
shows the effect of the collapse of the former Soviet Union on the
characters' lives- how their paths are shaped and changed by the swirl
and mix of history. We see how Butonov's career in athletics has been
frustrated and shaped by the Soviet system, then redefined by its
breakdown. And when Masha's Jewish husband gets permission to emigrate,
there are serious and unforseen consequences for the family.
Interestingly, author Ludmila Ulitskaya trained as a geneticist and the
themes of inheritance and relationships are central to this
beautifully-written family story. Although the story is deeply
involving, Medea and Her Children
is not a plot-driven page-turner but rather a nuanced, literary
extended character study of a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and
multi-generational family, and Ulitskaya has done a wonderful job
creating fascinating characters I came to care for struggling in an
unpredictable world. In the end, Ulitskaya writes about how the ties of
family can overcome even the deepest of wounds. I found Medea and Her Children to
be a richly satisfying read and would happily recommend it to readers
of serious fiction, and in particular to followers of modern Russian
literature. I have another one of Ulitskaya's books on my shelf and
can't wait to get to it as well.
Rating: BUY
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