Books from Russia

Set in the impoverished streets of nineteenth-century St. Petersburg, Crime and Punishment follows Rodion Raskolnikov, a former student who develops a theory that extraordinary individuals may be entitled to transgress moral laws for a greater purpose. Driven by poverty, pride, and his desire to prove his own superiority, he commits a brutal double murder. However, rather than achieving the freedom he imagined, Raskolnikov becomes consumed by guilt, paranoia, and psychological torment. As he struggles to conceal his crime, he encounters people who challenge his worldview, particularly Sonya Marmeladova, a young woman whose faith and compassion offer him a possible path toward redemption. Through intense psychological exploration, Dostoevsky examines morality, free will, suffering, and the conflict between intellectual justification and human conscience. The novel asks whether anyone can rise above ordinary moral obligations and explores how confronting one’s own humanity may be the first step toward transformation.

In My Dreadful Body, Egana Djabbarova explores what it means to grow up as a woman in a traditional Azerbaijani family in Russia, where a woman’s body is shaped by cultural expectations, religious beliefs, and the prospect of marriage. As the narrator develops a mysterious neurological condition that causes pain, involuntary movements, and speech difficulties, her body becomes both a source of suffering and a lens through which she examines her identity. Organised into chapters devoted to different body parts, the novel weaves together intimate memories, family traditions, and reflections on gender, illness, and belonging. The narrator confronts the rules imposed on women across generations, as well as the cultural tensions of living between Azerbaijani and Russian identities. Lyrical and deeply personal, this debut novel explores how physical vulnerability can challenge social expectations and open a path towards self-determination.