Zuleikha

The year is 1930. In a small Tartar village, a woman named Zuleikha watches as her husband is murdered by communists. Zuleikha herself is sent into exile, enduring a horrendous train journey to a remote spot on the Angara River in Siberia. Conditions in the camp are tough, and many of her group do not survive the first difficult winter. As she gets to know her companions - including a rather dotty doctor, an artist who paints on the sly, and Ignatov, her husband's killer - Zuleikha begins to build a new life that is far removed from the one she left behind. Guzel Yakhina's outstanding debut has been showered with prizes and is capturing the hearts of readers all over the world.

Set in

• ★
  Angara River, Siberia · Russia

  Siberian labour camp on the Angara River where Zuleikha survives for years
  ★ primary
• ★
  Siberia · Russia

  Angara River labor camp in Siberia; where Zuleikha is exiled and builds a new life over 15 years of Soviet captivity
  ★ primary
• Tatarstan · Russia

  Tatar village in 1930 Soviet Russia; Zuleikha's home before Stalin's collectivization drives her into exile