"With a View of Neskuchny" by Maria Metlitskaya, summary Automatic translate

This book is a collection of life stories, published in 2023. The text focuses on the stories of women rethinking their pasts, struggling with loneliness, and finding the strength to make radical changes. It is part of the "Behind Other People’s Windows: Prose by Maria Metlitskaya" series. Other well-known works in this series include "The Mother-in-Law’s Diary" and "And the Balloon Will Return." This collection is the eighty-sixth book in the series’ overall chronology.

Overlooking Neskuchny

Vera Kosheleva has achieved financial independence in Moscow. She owns a chain of fur salons. She lives in a prestigious apartment on Frunzenskaya Embankment, overlooking Neskuchny Garden. Vera’s mother, Galina Ivanovna, lives next door. The pensioner stubbornly demands that their old apartment in their hometown of Ensk be sold. The dispute continues for a long time.

Vera’s co-worker, Tatyana, is admitted to the hospital for surgery. Tatyana is a loyal friend and the commercial director of the salons. She has had a very difficult life. As a child, her mother was killed in a village brawl. Later, Tatyana cared for an ailing elderly woman in the capital to secure an apartment. She experienced betrayal by her loved one. Vera is forced to travel to Ensk herself to sell her property.

The road evokes painful memories, as Vera sincerely hates her hometown. She spent a difficult childhood there, in wooden barracks with a cold outdoor toilet. Later, her father left her for another woman. Accountant Larisa easily stole the man from the family. Vera’s mother suffered greatly. Witnessing this grief, Vera vowed to escape poverty forever.

In her youth, Vera married a local crime boss. German Raspopov, nicknamed Hera the Soldier, began their romance during a harsh winter. German helped Vera pick up broken Christmas tree decorations on the icy steps of a department store. The marriage brought Vera enormous wealth and a constant fear. She accidentally learned of her husband’s cruel orders. The stress caused her to lose her child. Soon, Vera fled to Moscow forever.

In the capital, the fugitive worked as a cleaner and a cashier. Meeting the entrepreneur Inga changed everything. Inga owned a fur business and taught Vera the rigors of trade. Later, her mentor married a Greek named Didumas. She died in a car accident on a winding mountain road. Vera bought the stores from the widower and successfully expanded the retail chain.

Arriving in Ensk, Vera stays at the Pilgrim Hotel. She entrusts the sale of her apartment to local realtors. The women promise to quickly find a reliable buyer. A hired driver, Maxim, drives Vera around the dusty city. The man asks her to lower the price for the apartment for his young family. Vera coldly refuses. Then she visits the old city cemetery. She finds the abandoned graves of her father, grandmother Zina, and stepmother Larisa.

Vera accidentally notices a nearby granite monument to Herman. Her ex-husband died eight years ago. His second wife, Lyudmila, is buried nearby. Distraught, Vera enters the restored local church. Behind the candle stand, she suddenly recognizes her former mother-in-law. Valentina has aged considerably and has become haggard. The old woman looks at her former daughter-in-law with a frankly unkind gaze.

Valentina recounts her son’s tragic fate. In a brutal gangland brawl, German suffered serious gunshot wounds. His best friend, Denis, betrayed him and took over his entire profitable business. German became bedridden. He married the nurse who cared for him, Daria. They had a daughter, Varya. Daria later left with a new man for the Far East. The little girl remained with her grandmother.

Vera’s ex-mother-in-law confides in her terrifying medical diagnosis. Valentina is suffering from terminal cancer. She has about a year to live. The old woman is terrified for her granddaughter’s future. After her grandmother’s imminent death, the girl will inevitably be sent to a state orphanage. Vera firmly promises to help and leaves Valentina a large sum of money. The Muscovite begins to tremble with nervous tension, overwhelmed by overwhelming emotions.

That night, Vera ponders the situation for a long time. She makes the life-saving decision to take ten-year-old Varya to Moscow. In the morning, Vera returns to her former mother-in-law’s. Varya bears a striking resemblance to the late Herman. Valentina and the timid granddaughter agree to the move. Vera quickly buys train tickets.

The woman returns to the capital with a sense of accomplishment. Tatyana’s surgery is a complete success. The tumor turns out to be benign, and her faithful friend is quickly recovering. Vera is actively preparing for her new family life with Varya. She entrusts the finalization of the apartment sale to Maxim and the local realtors. Vera looks out over springtime Moscow with genuine joy and deep love.

Rose Garden

Lina works as a deputy principal at a Moscow linguistic college. She lives in a state of constant nervous tension. She supports her aging mother, Tamara Andreyevna, her adult daughter, Katya, and two young grandchildren in a sixty-eight-square-meter apartment. As a child, Lina was a very slow and plump girl. Her strict mother dismissively called her a dead fish. Her ex-husband, Mark, left the family long ago. He reluctantly paid child support but consistently avoided direct communication.

Mark never loved Lina. He married solely because of his friend’s unplanned pregnancy. Their daughter, Katya, was born with intracranial pressure and cried constantly in severe pain. The young father, unable to cope with the difficulties of life, simply ran away. He later married a Georgian woman, Eteri, and became an incredibly caring father in his new marriage. Lina raised her first daughter entirely on her own. Spoiled, Katya grew up selfish, having two children at a very young age, each from a different man.

For many years, Lina had been in a secret romantic relationship with a colleague. Translator Pavel Korpikov was married to a domineering and abusive woman, Albina. Pavel dutifully raised other people’s children and silently endured daily humiliation. Albina forced him to do all the heavy housework. Lina secretly hoped for a future together. The weak-willed Pavel never brought himself to leave his wife. The romance gradually faded. Lina experienced a tremendous emotional relief from the long-awaited breakup.

Her friend Svetlana once took Lina to an experienced gypsy, Patrina. The fortune teller’s spacious apartment was packed with numerous, noisy relatives. Patrina initially predicted long years of boring routine for Lina. Then the fortune teller suddenly saw a completely unexpected ending in old cards. Lina would definitely find personal happiness in a blooming rose garden on the rocky shore of a warm sea. An old woman would be constantly present. Lina immediately dismissed this prediction as utter nonsense.

One summer, a tired Lina goes on vacation to hot Cyprus. She flies alone, leaving her noisy family at their dacha near Moscow. In a cozy seaside café, Lina accidentally meets an elderly Englishwoman. Margaret has been a permanent resident of this wonderful island for many years. The lonely old woman politely invites her new Russian acquaintance to a traditional English tea party. Lina reluctantly agrees to this official house call.

Margaret’s large white house is surrounded by a magnificent blooming garden with fragrant roses. The Englishwoman warmly introduces her guest to her eldest son. William works as a successful biochemist and meticulously tends to his flowers. He paints oil paintings in his spare time. William has long been widowed after his wife’s tragic car accident. A strong attraction develops between Lina and the withdrawn Englishman.

William shows Lina a wild, rocky coastline far from the bustling tourist town. They have a cozy dinner of fresh seafood at a small local tavern. Lina happily spends the rest of her vacation with the British man. Enchanted, he invites Lina to stay on the warm island forever. The Russian tourist declines due to her strict financial obligations to her large Moscow family. She flies home with an incredibly heavy heart. The Englishman discreetly sees her off at the international airport.

In the fall, Lina is finishing up her dacha season in the frigid Moscow region. She’s harvesting rotten apples. Suddenly, a torrential downpour begins. She becomes soaked through and falls seriously ill. A high fever quickly develops. Her cell phone is left lying on a wooden bench in the rain. Sick, Lina lies alone in the cold house without emergency contact. She feels an acute sense of absolute physical loneliness and bitter self-pity.

Suddenly, Katya and her son arrive at the dacha to rescue their mother. The daughter loudly announces her long-awaited reconciliation with her wealthy fiancé, Igor. Katya brings Lina a large package from abroad. Inside, carefully wrapped, is an oil painting from William. The canvas depicts a wonderful blooming garden of roses. On the reverse, written in English, are the most tender words of anticipation. Lina finally understands the truth of the old Gypsy prophecy and joyfully prepares to change her destiny.