Market-Train Station

Sadness and joy, hopelessness and hope alternate in the novels, stories, and tales of Masha Traub, who made a brilliant debut in 2007 with the poignant and sincere novel "Get Ready, We Are Leaving." Since then, there have been many more books, both hilariously funny and painfully sad. Some of them, such as "Diary of a First Grader's Mom" and "Little House in the South," have been adapted into feature films.

In her new book "Market-Train Station," Masha Traub carefully gathers fragments of memories through the aromas and tastes of the European market and the dusty "market-train station" of an Ossetian village. It is a nostalgic, warm prose about how food, smells, and chance encounters become recipes for human happiness.

"This book was written so easily, as if I was habitually cooking soup for lunch. 'Market,' as it was called in my rural childhood, or 'bazaar,' as it was referred to in towns, is my favorite place and my favorite theme. Smells, tastes, conversations, random acquaintances—entire destinies and feature-length plots rush before your eyes while you choose meat or tomatoes. This is a place with special rituals, rules of behavior, and its own special language. A random purchase can turn into a friendship lasting many years or simply lift your spirits for the whole day. And the train station, which was part of my childhood and adjacent to the market, brings the warmest memories that I cannot and do not want to part with. Such is the 'market-train station.'"