My Heart

The novel My Heart consists of letters written over many years by two people who are falling in love with each other. Between them, one after the other, obstacles spring up. Their age difference, then the war that separates them, and, finally, the heroines family arrangement that grows into a dramatic love triangle.The uniqueness of the book My Heart comes from familiar and common-place situations that are ennobled by such powerful and pure emotions that to modern readers they sound as if they are made up like in a fairy tale. The traditional theme of love conquers death (Gorky) or love sustains and moves the world (Turgenev) is filled out with the specific, every day details from their historical and societal context.These personal letters are set against the backdrop of immense historical events. Its as though the reader is armed with binoculars he can see fine details in the big picture, and in the details he can see the reflections of the grand design. The plain and direct language, the attention to details, and, most of all, the clarity and genuineness of emotion, is what makes My Heart such an impressive and valuable document of its era. Sergei Dovlatov, famed Russian journalist and writer