Dressed for a dance in the snow

BOOK REVIEW

DRESSED FOR A DANCE IN THE SNOW

Author: Monika Zgustova From the reader report by: Silke Kleemann

Before reading this book I did not know much about the Gulags in the Soviet Union. These nine reports by concerned women provided me with a good and gloomy overview; beyond personal fates also of basic features of the system and about the inhumane conditions at the camps which were often located in inhospitable regions, sometimes even beyond the polar circle and where toughest forced labour was demanded in the icy cold. The women were additionally burdened by sexual harassment and rape, also this is frequently suggested. I have no detailed knowledge of publications on the Gulags already published in German, but I have no doubt that Monika Zgustova´s considerations, with their focus on women and in most cases by letting the women themselves tell their stories, will be an enrichment. The chosen interview format is very informative and – somewhat coming as a surprise – enormous evidence of the resilience of these women. Despite the terrible circumstances, they frequently emphasize positive moments, the value of friendship and solidarity, or also the power they got from observing nature, during tiny moments of escaping the inhumane workload.

What I also like is that Monika Zgustova can be sensed as a person, by also telling what her visits to the women were like and what their current living conditions look like for her. By Vestidas para un baile en la nieve she has succeeded with writing an important and well-researched contemporary document which I am glad to recommend for a translation.

PUBLISHED IN NEW SPANISH BOOKS DE

GALAXIA GUTENBERG

Title DRESSED FOR A DANCE IN THE SNOW VESTIDAS PARA UN BAILE EN LA NIEVE

Author Monika Zgustova Genre Literature Pages 272

ISBN 978-84-17971-00-7 Year of publication 2017 Number of editions 6 Language Spanish Spanish retail price 18.50 €

Author’s biography: Although she was born in Prague, Monika Zgustova has lived in Barcelona since the 1980’s. She is a translator, writer, and journalist (she contributes to the Opinion section of El País and other national and international papers). She has over sixty translations to her name (from Czech and Russian) and the authors she has translated include, among others, Bohumil Hrabal, Jaroslav Hašek, Václav Havel, Milan Kundera, Anna Ajmátova y Marina Tsvetáieva. This work has won her the City of Barcelona prize and the Ángel Crespo prize. www.vmonikazgustova.com/new

Synopsis: Since the publication of Archipiélago Gulag (Gulag Archipelago) many testimonials have appeared to complete the portrait of the Soviet era system of work camps. However, very little of this work has considered the experience of women in the gulag. Perhaps they had a lesser role in the camps and in the brutal repression of the Stalinist regime – in fact, the opposite is true. Over the last nine years, Monika Sgustova, a Spain’s foremost specialist in Russian history and literature has sought out the few women survivors of the gulag who are still living in order to listen to and pass on their experiences before they are lost forever. Through their memories, Dressed for a dance describes nine women — actresses, teachers, mathematicians, poets — and the stories of their time in the gulag and, ultimately, their return to normal life. These are nine deeply human examples of survival.

Publisher who has published: Galaxia Gutenberg S.L.

Publisher: Galaxia Gutenberg is an independent Spanish publishing company. We have a very successful literary and humanistic catalogue that combines fiction and non-fiction, as well as poetry and other genres.

Publishing rights available from: Galaxia Gutenberg S.L.- CIF B65521957 Diagonal, 361 1-1 A. 08037 Barcelona, Barcelona www.galaxiagutenberg.com Contact: Maria Ridao Mestres [mridao@galaxiagutenberg.com] Phone: (+34) 664 100 983

Countries where the rights have been sold: US: Other Press (2020); Syria: Ninawa (2021); Czech Republic: Argo (2020) Prizes and reviews: The book was reviewed in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung; the book was reviewed in the journal World Literature Today and judged to be among the 75 best books in translation of 2020.. Comments: The author has received many prizes throughout her career including: the Cálamo, Amat-Piniella, and the Mercé Rodoreda.