White Moss - by Anna Nerkagi (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A poetic and fiercely moving Russian novel of tradition, change, and thwarted desire by an internationally celebrated writer from the Indigenous Nenets community of northern Siberia

Perfect for readers of Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko, the work of Louise Erdrich, and other emotionally powerful, lyrical narratives of global Indigenous communities

Providing rare, direct insight into the beauties and struggles of the Indigenous reindeer-herding Nenets community of the Russian north, White Moss tells a piercingly moving coming-of-age story of the conflict between individual dreams and collective life.

On the eve of his wedding, young Alyoshka pines for an earlier love. Ilne chose to leave the nomadic Nenets community behind 7 years before, moving to the city and taking his heart with her. As the seasons have passed and his mother has grown older, Alyoshka has been under increasing pressure to marry and fully embrace the Nenets' age-old customs of home and family. Unwilling to give up his hope for another life, the young man struggles against everything he has been taught to accept, while other painful transitions shake the stability of the small camp and minor human tragedies play out against the cold expanse of the tundra.

With bursts of lyricism and a Chekhovian eye for human frailty, Anna Nerkagi crafts a multi-voiced drama of tradition and change within her Indigenous community.

Review Quotes

"A stunning novel, mesmeric, revelatory, singular."
--Sara Baume, author of Seven Steeples

"This story of a solid community where people stick with one another is a perfect warming tale for winter."
The Guardian

"A work of subdued eloquence, White Moss is a novel about mourning, perseverance, and the sustenance found in community support."
--Foreword Reviews

"Nerkagi draws an evocative portrait of her Nenets community... Replete with imagery that conjures up the unforgiving but beautiful natural world... This is an almost fable-like story of rifts: between the young and the old, men and women, tradition and modernity."
--Prospect Magazine UK

About the Author

Anna Nerkagi was born in 1953 on the Yamal Peninsula in Siberia, and she belongs to the Indigenous Nenets community. As a child, she was separated from her parents by the Soviet authorities and sent to a boarding school, where Indigenous languages and cultural traditions were banned. She published her debut novel, Aniko of the Nogo Clan, in 1977, and in 1980 she returned to the Yamal Peninsula and the nomadic way of life. In 1990, she started the Tundra School for Nenets Children, where she still works as a teacher, blending traditional and modern forms of education.

Irina Sadovina is a translator and academic from Yoshkar-Ola, Russia. She is the Co-ordinator of Slavonic Languages and University Teacher of Russian at University of Sheffield's Modern Languages Teaching Centre. Her translation of White Moss won the Australasian Association of Writing Programs Translation Prize.