Petrovs in the Flu and Around It

In December 2007, on the eve of the New Year, 28-year-old mechanic Petrov falls ill with the flu. His wife and young school-aged son soon get sick as well. When they take the son to the Christmas tree at the young audience theater, Petrov indulges in memories of his Soviet childhood — about how he held the icy Snow Maiden with an unnaturally white face by the hand. The girl Marina, who portrayed the Snow Maiden, seemed to him very much like Igor's lover, who was expecting a child from him.

Igor is an irresistible trickster, linking the worlds of the living and the dead. When he encounters the sick mechanic on public transport, the lives of the Petrovs are turned upside down, making it increasingly difficult to discern where reality ends and where the flu-induced hallucination begins. Things start happening to them that are utterly unimaginable in everyday life.

"Petrovs in the Flu and Around It" is the second novel by writer Alexei Salnikov. It was awarded the critical jury prize of the NOS literary award (2017) and the "National Bestseller" award (2018). The novel has been translated into several foreign languages.