'Dazzling . . . [An] engrossing study of a vivacious personality slipping away' THE TIMES

'Rich in detail, elusive in meaning, light in touch' MOSCOW TIMES

In a small apartment in New York, in the sweltering mid-summer heat, a group of Russian emigres gather around the sickbed of an artist named Alik.

Nina, his wife, is desperate for Alik to be baptised; Irina, his ex-lover, a circus acrobat turned lawyer, quietly pays the bills; elderly Maria dispenses magical herbs; and Maika, Irina's fifteen-year-old daughter, prepares to lose the only man to make her laugh.

As the visitors fuss and reminisce over Alik, in a corner of the crowded room the television shows the uprising outside the White House in Moscow and the tanks closing in on the city . . .

About the Author
Ludmila Ultiskaya is one of Russia's most popular and renowned literary figures. A former scientist and the director of Moscow's Hebrew Repertory Theatre, she is the author of thirteen works of fiction, three children's books and six plays. She has been awarded the Austrian State Prize for European Literature, Russia's Booker Prize and has been nominated for the International Man Booker Prize. THE FUNERAL PARTY is her first full-length novel to be published in English.

Reviews
I loved it . . . I read it in one sitting and was constantly surprised -- Margaret Forster
Dazzling . . . [An] engrossing study of a vivacious personality slipping away * THE TIMES *
Ultiskaya aims for the lyrical and builds her canvas like one of Alik's abstract paintings: rich in detail, elusive in meaning, light in touch * MOSCOW TIMES *
One of the most important living Russian writers -- Gary Shteyngart, author of SUPER SAD TRUE LOVE STORY



Book Information
ISBN 9781474602051
Author Ludmila Ulitskaya
Format Paperback
Page Count 176
Imprint Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Publisher Orion Publishing Co
Weight(grams) 161g
Dimensions(mm) 196mm * 133mm * 14mm