The
Billancourt Tales collects thirteen superb stories from those
Nina Berberova wrote in Paris between 1928 and 1940 for the émigré
newspaper The
Latest News. In Berberova’s own words, these stories contain traces of “human
tears that were more like the drop formations on a piece of Edam cheese than
the dew on a rose petal.”
Billancourt, a highly industrialized suburb of Paris, gave Berberova her subject.
Here thousands of exiled Russians — White Guards, civilians, and Berberova herself
— were finding work and establishing a home away from home with their Russian
churches, schools, and small business ventures.
Berberova thought the significance of the tales was in their historical and sociological
aspects — and yet these fine stories are the kind that have led to comparisons
to Chekhov. They portray a wide range of human beings and the twists and turns
of their various lives. Sometimes amusing, sometimes sad, these stories show
Nina Berberova at her very best: “her appeal remains strong, and becomes
stronger still, because she was both participant and chronicler, because she
experienced and imagined.” (Yale Review).
“The thirteen stories of Billancourt Tales are closely observed, potently
phrased and dapperly shaped . . . . Marian Schwartz’s English translation deftly
captures the fanciful twists and turns of Berberova’s imagination . . . . Indispensable.” —New York Times Book Review
“We have these stories, and for the lives they commemorate and the particular
time and place they so keenly preserve, we cherish them.” —Los Angeles Times
“Berberova is, quite simply, an imaginative writer of the highest distinction.”
—(The London) Independent
