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       Copyright

      The Borough Press

      An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers

      1 London Bridge Street

      London SE1 9GF

       www.harpercollins.co.uk

      Copyright © Andrea Bennett 2015

      Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2015

      Cover illustration by Barry Falls

      Andrea Bennett asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

      A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

      This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

      All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

      Source ISBN: 9780008108380

      Ebook Edition © 2015 ISBN: 9780008108397

      Version: 2015-06-17

       Dedication

       For my family, especially Louis

       Author’s Note

      In the 1990s, there was a three-legged dog called Boroda, who wore no collar and lived in Azov with an old Russian lady who worked hard on her dacha.

      However, everything else in this book, while inspired by my memories of the people and geography of Russia, is a work of fiction, and should be treated as such.

       Contents

       Cover

       Title Page

      Copyright

      Dedication

      Author’s Note

      Glossary

      1. A Typical Monday Afternoon

      2. The Azov House of Culture Elderly Club

       7. Grigory Mikhailovich

       8. A Train Ride

       9. A Rescue

       10. Guests

       11. A Date with Mitya

       12. A Letter from Vasya

       13. Mitya’s Angel

       14. The Ministry

       15. Deep in the SIZO

       16. A Minor Triumph

       17. The Cheese Mistress

       18. The Third Way

       19. A Dog’s Life

       20. The Return

       21. Of Butterflies, Dogs and Men

       22. Rov Avia

       23. Vasya’s Pussy

       24. The Sunshine SIZO

       25. Chickens Roost

       26. The End of the Beginning

       27. The End

       Acknowledgements

       About the Author

       About the Publisher

       Glossary

      Baba – short for babushka

      Babushka – Granny, often used as a term of address of any elderly woman

      Blin – a mild substitute exclamation, like “flip!”

      Boroda – beard, and pronounced barada

      Dacha – wooden country residence, ranging from a hut to a mansion

      Dedya – Grandad, often used as a term of address of any elderly man

      Duma – the Russian parliament

      KAMAZ – a make of Russian truck

      Kasha – porridge

      Kefir – a fermented milk drink

      Kroota – cool

      Kvass – a fermented non-alcoholic drink made from rye bread

      Laika – the stray dog sent in to orbit by the USSR in 1957

      Lapochka – sweetie, term of endearment based on the word for paw, and used for small children and dogs

      Lubyanka – HQ of the KGB in central Moscow

      NKVD – the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs, or secret police (forerunner of KGB)

      Perestroika – a political movement for reformation of the Communist Party during the 1980s

      Sharik – little ball, it is a common dog’s name in Russia

      SIZO – stands for Sledstvenny Izolyator, and is a remand prison

      Skoraya – ambulance

      Spetznaz – Russian Special Forces

      Svoloch – bastard, git

      Vareniki – small stuffed dumplings

      Vint – a domestically produced stimulant drug, usually injected

       1

       A Typical Monday Afternoon

      ‘Hey! Goryoun

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