Who Watches the Wind

The title of the novel "Who Watches the Wind" refers to biblical verses: "Whoever watches the wind will not sow; and whoever looks at the clouds will not reap."
1970s, a provincial Soviet town. Rita Borodina — a young teacher of Russian and literature — learns that she was taken from an orphanage, and her real parents, Lea and Samuel Richter, died under mysterious circumstances. Rita starts her own investigation to find out what happened twenty-three years ago and to locate her relatives.

“She took out her birth certificate from the envelope, and along with it fell a yellowed crumpled slip — a certificate. Citizen Richter Rina Samuilovna… adopted and given a name, patronymic, surname… of which a record was made. So simple, so mundane. There was a girl Rina, now there is a girl Rita. Rina vanished, she can be forgotten.
One could burn the old cardboard folder. Or simply put it away in the farthest drawer of the table and go on living. That would be the easiest thing to do, but she already knew that she would not burn it, would not put it away, would not forget. It would not happen. A full woman with sad eyes and a long-faced, big-eared man would not let her go.”

Olga Kromer — a prose writer, author of the novel “That City” (winner of the “Yasnaya Polyana” and “ABS Prize”, longlists), and the novella “Each Atom” (“Yasnaya Polyana”, longlist). She graduated from the Faculty of Applied Mathematics and Cybernetics, and works as a programmer. The characters in Kromer's books are united by their desire to remain themselves against the odds.

• 1. A detective novel, in which a serious historical layer is hidden behind the tense plot. A new release from the author of the novel “That City” and a finalist for the “Yasnaya Polyana” prize.
• 2. The life of Soviet provincialism and the realities of repatriation to Israel from the Soviet Union in the 1970s: refusniks, secret study of Hebrew, pressure from state security officials, severance from loved ones and former life.
• 3. This is more than the story of a specific people; it is a book about how to remain oneself in spite of circumstances.