The Sole Owner

Maiya Kononenko — poet and translator, essayist, prose writer. Born in Almaty, she has lived in Moscow since she was nine. She graduated from the Literary Institute named after A.M. Gorky and several courses at the “Good Text” school. She has been published in the magazines “Seance,” “Zvezda,” and “Novy Mir.” “The Sole Owner” is her first major prose work. The traditional “family” novel here is based on a hidden fairy tale structure, engaging the reader in a fascinating game. According to the author, “this is a toy version of ‘Ulysses,’ written from the perspective of a child, a girl,” combining a coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of the 20th century and a cleverly built system of literary allusions, from Lewis Carroll to Kafka. The mother of the main character Aika is getting married for the second time, and the girl gains “yet another grandmother and grandfather” with a rather complicated history — her “new” grandfather dedicated his entire life to working in the special services. From a summer house in Jurmala, Aika moves to the GDR, and she will now be called differently, as if she were an undercover spy — Anya Vitruk… A quarter of a century later, she will finally have to confront her old childhood fears in order to free the enchanted land of her childhood, which is tormented by the same contradictions that afflict her.