From the master of psychological suspense and the author of The Adversary comes "a work of infinite sorrow, infernal jealousy, and violent passion" (Le Monde). Set in Paris and Kotelnich, a small post-Soviet town, My Life as a Russian Novel traces Carrère's pursuit of two obsessions-the disappearance of his Russian grandfather and his erotic fascination with a woman he loves but cannot keep from destroying. In prose that is elegant and passionate, Carrère weaves the strands of his story into a travelogue of a journey inward. Road trip, confession, and erotic tour de force-this fearless reckoning illuminates the schemes we devise to evade ourselves, and the inevitable payment they exact.

Emmanuel Carrère; Translated by Linda Coverdale