"House in Mansurovsky" by Maria Metlitskaya, summary Automatic translate

A family saga by renowned writer Maria Metlitskaya, published in 2024, tells the stories of the members of the Nitochkin family, a Moscow professorial family. This book is a story about the strength of family ties, hidden emotional wounds, inevitable losses, and skeletons in the closet that unexpectedly change everyday life. This work is part of the author’s series "Women’s Fates. The Cozy Prose of Maria Metlitskaya." The popular novels "Mother-in-Law’s Diary" and "Everything We Once Loved" are also published in this series. Each book has no strict serial number.

Everyday life in the northern garrison

Marusya Nitochkina lives in a squalid military town in the north. Her husband, Alexey, is a submarine officer, often away on long cruises. Her older sister, Yulia, a determined Moscow journalist, unexpectedly arrives to visit. Marusya tries to hide the poverty of her home. Her neighbors, Lida Brekun and Tasya Zubtsova, help her. They bring a carpet, blue curtains with swans, and a porcelain goose with a golden beak.

Lida Brekun accomplishes a true heroic deed. She begs Antonina Salaeva, the grocery store manager, for a piece of pork. Yulia brings back hard-to-find delicacies from Moscow: sausage, Viola cheese, and lemons. The sisters set out for a walk through the blinding northern snow. Yulia criticizes the harsh climate and Marusya’s isolation. She wonders why a graduate of a specialized French school and a foreign language student chose the harsh everyday life of the garrison. This conversation prompts Marusya to recall their family’s past.

Family nest in Mansurovsky

Their father, Alexander Evgenievich Nitochkin, was widowed at thirty-nine. His loving wife, Katya Svetlova, died suddenly of a blood clot. He was left alone with two daughters. Yulia grew up a restless child, while little Marusya was a quiet and affectionate mirror of her mother.

The widower was completely unable to cope. His stern mother-in-law, Galina Nikolaevna, took Yulia to a village near Moscow. She refused to give the child back, blaming her son-in-law for her daughter’s death. Nitochkin nearly committed suicide under the wheels of a train, but thoughts of his daughters kept him from doing so.

Soon, Asya appeared in their home. She was a modest nurse from a children’s clinic, who had come from the Bashkir village of Urazovo. She began to care devotedly for Marusya. Professor Klara Luskene, an old friend and former lover, advised him to marry Asya. The modest marriage brought peace to the home. When her paralyzed mother-in-law was brought to Moscow, Asya patiently cared for her until her death.

Asya’s Hidden Wounds

Asya grew up in a large and close-knit Bashkir family. Her mother insisted on moving to Moscow for the sake of her daughters’ future. At first, they lived in a damp room in a factory barracks. Later, her father received the title of Hero of Socialist Labor and a spacious apartment. Asya dreamed of becoming an actress, but due to her father’s illness, she enrolled in medical school.

Asya devotedly loved Marusya and tried to find a way to approach the obstinate Yulia. Her own life held a secret, too. One day, while giving a neighbor injections, she became infatuated with her son, Anton. The sudden passion culminated in awkward hugs and kisses. Asya suffered from guilt toward her husband her entire life and never told anyone about it.

The sisters’ youth

The sisters grew up very different. Yulia was a natural leader, having graduated from the journalism department of Moscow State University. Marusya, on the other hand, was distinguished by her gentle nature. During her student years, Marusya experienced an unrequited love for a seriously ill associate professor, Grigory Romanov. He walked with a cane after a stroke. Marusya tried to care for him in his communal apartment in Chertanovo, bringing him groceries and tangerines.

The associate professor abruptly rejected her advances due to wounded pride and soon resigned. After experiencing this trauma, Marusya met Alexey. They quickly married. Marusya followed him to a distant garrison, abandoning her studies.

Julia’s Secret Romance

Yulia had a secret of her own. She devotedly cared for the terminally ill Klara Luskene. To obtain rare imported painkillers, Yulia turned to Gennady Kruzhnyak for help. He held a high position in the KGB. A secret and torturous affair began between them.

Kruzhnyak was in a relationship; he had a difficult son. They met in a departmental apartment on Vernadsky Avenue. Yulia was terrified of her lover’s departmental status. Her grandfather had been executed in 1938, and her grandmother had committed suicide. However, Gennady helped Yulia officially register at Klara’s apartment before the latter’s death.

Find in the chest of drawers

Many years later, Asya found an old, yellowed envelope behind a bookcase in Mansurovskoye. It was Katya’s suicide letter to her husband. In it, the late wife confessed that before their marriage, she had been madly in love with a foreign student, Andranik Shakhidzhan.

Katya became pregnant by him, but Shakhidzhan drove her away. To save the child, she hastily accepted the amorous professor’s proposal. This meant that Yulia wasn’t Nitochkin’s biological daughter. Asya showed wisdom. She burned the letter in an aluminum basin to protect her husband and daughters from the terrible truth.

Return to Moscow

During a business trip to Murmansk, Yulia visited her sister. She discovered that the pregnant Marusya was suffering from severe morning sickness and uterine hypertonicity. Alexey was at sea at the time. Yulia forcibly packed her sister’s things and took her to Moscow.

In the capital, Marusya gave birth to a daughter, Tomochka. Alexey visited them, but Marusya refused to return to the Far North. Their marriage gradually fell apart. A few years later, Professor Nitochkin died quietly. Marusya remained in Moscow.

Exposure and divorce

Years later, Kruzhnyak called Yulia for a meeting again. He handed her archival documents. From them, Yulia learned the truth about her biological father. He turned out to be Andranik Shakhidzhan, a longtime resident of Paris.

Kruzhnyak also revealed her husband Igor’s infidelity. It turned out Igor had a secret second family and a young son, Pavlik. Yulia calmly spoke with Igor, and he left the apartment. Yulia contacted her real father and flew to France. Paris quickly became her home.

Meetings and new solutions

Marusya was trying to settle down in Moscow. At a resort in Spain, she met Dmitry, a St. Petersburg resident. They married and split their time between the two cities. For Tomochka’s fourteenth birthday, Alexey came to Moscow with a huge polar bear.

A chance encounter in the pouring rain at a Moscow archway rekindled their old feelings. Marusya and Alexey spent three days together at a hotel. They realized they had made a mistake in breaking up so many years ago. Marusya sent Dmitry a breakup message. She hoped to reunite with Alexey. However, she soon received a letter from him. Alexey said he couldn’t leave his wife and sons.

Bitter truth

Marusya came to visit her sister in Paris. Yulia informed her that Tomochka had successfully passed her exams and was staying on to study at the Sorbonne under her tutelage. Marusya was furious, considering this yet another of Yulia’s interferences in her life. She hurriedly flew to Moscow.

That night, she was awakened by a crying phone call from her daughter. Tomochka told her that Yulia was seriously ill with cancer and had hidden it to spare her sister’s heart. In two weeks, Yulia would undergo a complex operation.

The resentment instantly subsided. Marusya realized she had to return to France immediately. She reassured her daughter and promised that they would overcome this tragedy together, because family was the most important thing in their lives.