"Indian Summer" by Maria Metlitskaya, summary Automatic translate

This collection of stories was published in 2016. This book is a poignant narrative of the lives of ordinary people, whose hopes, sorrows, and belated love merge into a single picture of autumn warmth. The sixteen texts collected here reveal the inner world of middle-aged women. Time heals wounds. Time gives new chances, allowing us to start anew, as if experiencing the last warm season before the coming winter.

This work is part of the author’s series "Maria Metlitskaya’s Quiet People. Prose from Different Years." The series includes such works as "Mother-in-Law’s Diary," "Adusya," "Black and White Life," and others. The author consistently develops themes of the search for personal happiness in the everyday, so there is no sequential numbering within the series — each story can be read as a standalone. The author masterfully uses flashbacks — frequent references to the characters’ pasts — to further explain their current actions. These plot arcs, or chains of events that develop the characters, help one easily empathize with their concerns.

The Irony of Fate and Belated Love

Nina Gorokhova, from the story "The Smell of Antonov Apples," lived a dull, measured life. Her husband left her for another woman, and her daughter moved abroad. On the threshold of her fiftieth birthday, Nina unexpectedly decides to sell her old dacha. The buyer turns out to be a widower, Igor Sergeyevich. During the transaction, they begin to grow closer. When Nina breaks her leg, Igor Sergeyevich visits her. He brings a bag of fragrant Antonov apples from the orchard he sold. The apartment fills with the scent of fruit and the hope of happiness.

Stefa, from the story "Indian Summer," is burdened with supporting her selfish daughter, Inna, son-in-law, and grumpy husband. While on a rare vacation to visit a friend, she is forced to cut it short due to her grandson’s injury. On the way back, she meets Leonid, and they begin a passionate, brief affair. It soon becomes clear that Leonid’s wife is gravely ill, and he is taking his family to the United States for good. Alone, Stefa, for the first time, finds the strength to appreciate the moments she has been given.

Elena Kirsanova ("The Restless Life of a Single Woman") blossoms into a beauty in high school. Fate brings her into contact with weak or problematic men. She pities them and pursues them all. A chance encounter with an old high school crush, now a successful businessman, forces Elena to reflect. She quickly realizes her mistakes, decides to win Dima back, and gains a chance at a normal family.

Three school friends — Tata, Pusya, and Lyuka ("Triumvirate") — are building their adult lives. Tata marries a poor artist at an early age. The marriage falls apart when she catches her husband in bed with the beautiful Lyuka. Pusya leaves for America to pursue a career as a biologist. Years later, the lonely Tata learns the latest news. It turns out Pusya has married the exile Boris and maintains a luxurious home. The girls’ paths in life diverge forever.

Lonely secretary Irina ("Bluff") receives an invitation to a high school reunion. A friend persuades Irina to borrow a mink coat and pretend to be a wealthy businesswoman. At a restaurant, Irina runs into a former classmate, Vlad, who is also trying to appear successful. Vlad suddenly disappears, but later admits to being broke. Irina reveals her truth: she lives on a modest salary, and the coat was someone else’s. Having thrown off their masks, the couple decides to celebrate the New Year together.

Trials of the past and female courage

Overwhelmed by her chores, Kira ("Second Wind") suffers from nervous exhaustion. Her doctor advises her to urgently change her surroundings. She leaves for Lithuania, leaving her capricious father in the care of a hired housekeeper. Upon her return, she discovers that the housekeeper has become more than just a caregiver. The old man moves in with his new partner. Kira’s ex-boyfriend, Andrei, helps him move his belongings. He calls her, and they arrange to meet.

Elya Brody ("Random Circumstances"), a businesswoman from New York, arrives in Moscow on a business trip. She is met by a young driver, Kirill Lavertov. Elya reminisces about her youth. As a provincial girl, she enrolled in drama school, became pregnant by Edik Lavertov, had an abortion, and was abandoned. Her friend Natasha later married Edik. Now Elya faces their son. Having abandoned her quest for revenge, she cancels her business and flies back to America.

Little Lyuba ("Chicken God") arrives at the seaside with her mother and stays with the lame owner, Vasilich. Soon, her mother runs away with a young vacationer, abandoning her baby and elderly husband. Now an adult, Lyuba returns to the village to help Vasilich. She forgives her mother’s betrayal. Years later, she finds a "chicken god" stone on the shore, which brings good luck. That same day, her husband returns to her, repentant.

Modest dispatcher Tanya ("Dream") saves for years for a chocolate-colored mink coat. Having bought the new coat, she tries to attract men, but to no avail. One day, Tanya falls ill and goes to the clinic, where her long-awaited coat is stolen from the closet. The dispatcher suffers a nervous breakdown. Red-haired policeman Ivan Belous drives her home. Ivan soon becomes her husband. Pregnant Tanya realizes that fur coats are not conducive to happiness.

The narrator and her husband ("Three Nymphs Against the Sea") are vacationing at a resort hotel. Their attention is drawn to three noisy, middle-aged women: Zhenya, Galya, and Natasha. They laugh loudly and appear completely carefree. However, Natasha soon fearlessly dives into the water and saves a drowning foreign girl. It turns out that each of the women has suffered an incredibly difficult and tragic fate back home. This vacation is their only escape.

Everyday dramas and forgiveness

Twenty years later, Andrey and Tatyana meet by chance at the market ("Artists’ Village"). They had a tender romance during their school years. Now a wealthy businessman, he suffers from an inner emptiness. Tatyana works as a teacher, caring for her ailing husband and elderly mother in her grandfather’s dilapidated house. They spend a passionate night together. In the morning, Andrey silently leaves, breaks his old SIM card, and decides to put the past behind him.

An eccentric mother of many children, nicknamed Simka, appears at a prestigious Moscow cooperative (Simka-Simona). Suddenly, she transforms into a chic woman and mysteriously disappears from the country. Many years later, the narrator travels through Holland and visits an antique shop. The shopkeeper turns out to be Simka, who has found peace in her marriage to a Dutchman. The two friends embrace, and Simka gives the narrator a porcelain parrot as a lasting keepsake.

Lonely Nina ("Three Poplars in Novye Cheryomushki") is raising her son, Kotik. A rude friend takes Nina to a posh restaurant and proposes her to a rich man from the Caucasus. Nina runs away from the date. The next day, she rushes to the Moscow region to visit her son. At a bus stop, a truck driver named Sergey comes to her aid. He selflessly gives her a ride to kindergarten. In the morning, he arrives at her front door, and Nina realizes she’s found her footing.

Lilya Trofimova ("What’s the Difference?") is pining for loneliness. Her marriage to her calculating boss, Rostik, quickly becomes unbearably depressing. Out of boredom, Lilya begins corresponding with a Frenchman. Rostik causes a scandal and throws out his unfaithful wife. Returning from an unsuccessful trip to Marseille, Lilya starts a new job and unexpectedly discovers she’s pregnant. Immediately afterward, all her former admirers begin apologizing, but Lilya no longer cares.

Nadezhda and Arkady ("Unscheduled Trip") are living in a protracted crisis. On a rainy weekend, they reluctantly travel to the Tver region to receive an inheritance. There, they meet a friendly neighbor. The fresh air, chopping wood together, a hot sauna, and warm childhood memories break down the wall of misunderstanding. The couple decides to keep the estate for themselves. For the first time in a long time, Nadya feels happy, having forgiven her husband.

The lonely librarian Matilda ("Matilda") spent her entire life caring for her selfish sister, Iza. She bore this burden without complaint. In her youth, her beautiful friend Lara hid her pregnancy and cunningly married Levushka, with whom Matilda was in love. After a brief, casual affair with Levushka, Matilda gave birth to a daughter, Milochka. Years later, Lara dies. The widowed Levushka flies to Moscow from America. On the day of their departure, Matilda decides to finally tell him the truth about her daughter.