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The Unreal Life of Sergey Nabokov
In this novel based on the
extraordinary life of the gay brother of Vladimir Nabokov, Paul
Russell re-creates the rich and changing world in which Sergey, his
family and friends lived; from wealth and position in
pre-revolutionary Russia, to the halls of Cambridge University, and
the Parisian salon of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas. But it is
the honesty and vulnerability of Sergey, our young gay narrator, that
hook the reader: his stuttering childhood in the shadow of his
brilliant brother, his opium-fueled evenings with his sometime lover
Cocteau, his troubled love life on the margins of the Ballets Russes
and its legendary cast, and his isolation in war-torn Berlin where he
will ultimately be arrested, sent to a camp and die in 1945.
A
meticulously researched novel, in which you will meet an
extraordinary cast of characters including Picasso, Diaghilev,
Stravinsky, Magnus Hirschfield, Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas,
Cocteau, and of course the master himself, Vladimir Nabokov, this is
ultimately the story of a beautiful and vulnerable homosexual boy
growing into an enlightened and courageous man.
You can read advance praise for The Unreal Life of Sergey Nabokov here.
Press reviews include:
"Splendid... A stylish and tragic
'confluence of histories, cultures, and languages.'"— The Washington Post
“With compelling characters and
steady prose, the reader will breeze through this pleasurable,
heart-breaking account of the other Nabokov.”— Publishers Weekly
“A story that will make you laugh and
smile then breaks your heart, this is a rich tapestry of the human
condition. Highly recommended.”—Library Journal (starred review)
“Russell brings his readers on a wild
romp through the gay and artistic cliques that were changing the face
of the art and literary worlds in the 1920s and 30s….Sergey [is]
the perfect guide through history. He is the everyman, fascinating
not through any action of his own but by the complexities of the time
in which he lives.”—Foreword
The Unreal Life of Sergey Nabokov
displays linguistic artistry through portraying ruin in all its
forms—the scattering of family ties, the loss of one’s country,
and the consequences of war, death, addiction and forbidden love.
It’s a life story that does, in fact, seem “unreal,” and is
made all the more remarkable for its veracity. Kudos to writer Paul
Russell for presenting the historical persona of “the gay Nabokov”
in a fictional format that succeeds at drawing the reader into
Sergey’s improbably true life.”—Lambda Literary
“An insightful and moving glimpse
into the inner life of a sensitive gay man existing in the long
shadow of a famous brother.”—XTRA
“Russell’s stellar research and
inventiveness make this obscure figure an unforgettable gay
hero.”—Edge |
