A Week Like a Week

First published in 1969 in the magazine «Novy Mir», the novella «A Week Like a Week» by Natalia Baranskaya (1908–2004) remains the most famous work of the writer. This short text, a stream of consciousness of the heroine, in which many of her contemporaries could recognize themselves, describes a week in the life of a Soviet woman, a research institute worker, a wife, and a mother, and shows the gap between professional duties, family, and inner experiences. Baranskaya highlights the deep social and psychological conflicts of women of her time, which remain relevant today. Upon its publication, «A Week Like a Week» caused a sensation and sparked lively debates. Since then, it has been reissued multiple times in Russian and in translations: the novella has been translated into English, Italian, French, German, and Spanish, and in the United Kingdom, «A Week Like a Week» is included in the curriculum on Soviet literature for students and is considered alongside «One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich» as an important text that allows for a deeper understanding of the human dimension of the Soviet era.