My Russian

The Story

'One morning I stood on the back deck of our handsome house and I realized that my interior self, the self I did not present to the world or even to those closest to me, seemed to have burned out.' So confesses Francesca Woodbridge, the narrator of Deirdre McNamer's novel. Francesca rekindles herself with plans for a garden, which lead to a lover - her Russian gardener, a refugee from Chernobyl.