A summary of "Waitress" by Elena Nesterina Automatic translate

Elena Nesterina’s novel "Waitress," published in 2000, reveals the underbelly of the restaurant business through the story of twin sisters. This book chronicles the rise of a young provincial woman in the harsh conditions of the capital’s food service industry. The plot centers on the contrast between two sisters, similar in appearance but completely different in character, trying to find their place in Moscow.

The journey began at the Mirror Restaurant

The story begins with Marina Gennadyevna, the owner of the thriving restaurant "General Toptygin." She’s frustrated by low revenue due to Lent and fires her new employee, Valya Krivenko, for breaking a dish. Later, Marina regrets her irascibility and recalls how she began her career with her twin sister, Karina, at the restaurant "Zerkalo." The memories transport us to that cold time when two provincial girls from the Ivanovo region came to conquer the capital.

Upon arriving in Moscow, the sisters settled in with their aunt Veronika in an old apartment on Narodnogo Opolcheniya Street. Zerkalo had special rules: only twins were hired as waiters. The girls quickly mastered the intricacies of the profession, where a broken glass or lost fork required paying out of pocket. They met their colleagues — Sveta, Natasha, the maitre d’ Orekhova, and the good-natured bartender Pavlik. Their encounter with the harsh realities of the food service industry forced them to develop a protective mask for dealing with capricious customers.

One day, after a heavy-handed banquet in honor of March 8th, the sisters nearly became victims of violence. On a deserted street, their path was blocked by a car filled with drunken friends of the establishment’s director, including the influential meat supplier Ruslan. The girls were saved by the bartender, Pavlik, who arrived just in time. This incident forced Marina to consider her own safety and devise a plan for personal enrichment. Soon, Albina, the ill-tempered receptionist, broke her arm, and the sisters, together with Pavlik, set up an underground business selling unregistered alcohol.

Childhood and street trading

Marina was always determined and driven by a desire for wealth, while Karina was more modest and homely. The sisters were inseparable from childhood. When Marina was hospitalized with appendicitis at the age of six, Karina became ill from the stress and underwent the same operation. This emotional connection defined their lives for many years.

Arriving in Moscow to enroll in the Institute of Light Industry, they failed their exams. To earn money, the girls took a job selling hot dogs at the All-Russian Exhibition Center. There, they encountered the dirty side of street vending: bosses poured Coke water straight from the fountain, slipped expired sausages, and disguised moldy buns with ketchup. Marina flatly refused to reuse the cups, dreaming of a big, glamorous business.

The stall trade was coming to an end with the onset of autumn cold. Revenue was falling, and the sisters were forced to seek new options. An advert for twins at the upscale restaurant "Zerkalo" proved a real lifesaver. Although they knew nothing about restaurant work, their natural attractiveness helped them quickly ace the interview and secure a full-time position.

Career growth and the Shakuntala restaurant

Marina noticed Ruslan, who was in love with her, and skillfully turned him into her faithful assistant. He drove her around her country houses, and once, on a whim, four men ferried her across the icy Moscow River on a carpet. Karina, meanwhile, met a simple and reliable driver, Valera, who became her husband. Karina became pregnant and quit her job at Zerkalo, while Marina went to work at the upscale restaurant Shakuntala, whose interior was adorned with wood carvings and a pond stocked with live fish.

At her new establishment, Marina proved herself a natural manager. When a drunk customer crushed an expensive sturgeon in a decorative pond, she convinced him to pay two hundred dollars in damages, passing off the dead fish as a rare trained Damascus sturgeon. Management recognized her abilities, and Marina soon took over as manager during Larisa Stozharova’s maternity leave. Her authority among her colleagues grew, despite the envy of Marianna, the waitress who had been fired for stealing.

Karina gave birth to her son, Oleg, and immersed herself in family matters. Marina, meanwhile, continued to work herself to the bone, juggling management with her studies. She established connections among influential bankers and businessmen, planning to start her own business. Her patron was the wealthy investor Igor Alexandrovich, whose seriously ill wife, Liza, Marina treated with compassion, trying to maintain her distance.

Oksana’s tragedy

Marina encountered problems in the personal life of her colleague Oksana, the maitre d’ at Shakuntala. Oksana was blindly in love with a businessman named Khan, who bullied and humiliated her. Oksana believed Khan loved her and tolerated any abuse. Oksana’s attempt to bewitch Khan ended in a brutal beating and a complete breakup. Unable to bear the grief, the unfortunate girl wrote a suicide note and slit her wrists in the bathtub.

Marina, sensing something was wrong, rushed to Oksana’s side with her driver, Leonid. They broke down the balcony door and pulled the bleeding girl out of the icy bathtub. Before she died, Oksana asked to play her favorite music from the children’s film "Buratino," hoping to escape to a land of happiness. Marina called the radio, but the hosts mixed up the tracks and played a mocking song by Alice the Fox and Basilio the Cat. Oksana bled to death in the ambulance.

Her friend’s death deeply hurt Marina. She vowed to punish Khan, but was forced to hide her feelings because he was one of the investors in her new restaurant, General Toptygin. Soon, Marina met her true love, Nikolai, who was part of the same business group. However, Khan and his accomplices decided to get rid of Nikolai. After getting him drunk at a restaurant, they fatally struck an elderly woman with his jeep, framing Nikolai for the crime.

A vile betrayal

Nikolai was forced to flee Moscow and go into hiding. Khan forced him to sign documents transferring his business and debts. Marina uncovered this vile scheme after discovering the documents in Khan’s belongings. She decided to poison the traitor with a dangerous intestinal obstruction powder, which she purchased from the dubious healer Misha. To carry out this plan, Marina enlisted Karina, giving her the same haircut and buying her identical clothes.

The plan was for Karina to sit at the table with Khan and his friends while Marina searched his office. Karina successfully accomplished her task. Marina slipped a lethal powder into Khan’s favorite salad, the Quail’s Nest. However, at that moment, a drunken shootout broke out between patrons in the restaurant. A terrified Khan left the establishment without touching the poisoned dish.

In the chaos, Orekhova ordered the untouched orders to be written off. Karina, unaware of the danger, dressed the salad and took it home, hoping to feed it to her young son. When Marina discovered the salad missing in the morning, she called the cook in horror and learned that Karina had taken it. Marina raced to her sister’s house at breakneck speed, praying to God for one thing — to save her in time.

On the brink of life and death

Karina ate a poisoned salad the night before while reading a book. By morning, she was wracked with terrible spasms. Marina burst into the apartment, where her sister was already unconscious on the floor by the half-open door. Marina used a special wooden spike with a neutralizing agent Misha had given her for emergencies and stabbed Karina in the stomach. This saved her sister’s life until the paramedics arrived. In the epilogue, Karina survives, and Marina vows to continue the fight for their shared happiness.