Born in Chechnya

Born in Chechnya" is an autobiographic novel. It depicts the ethnic contradictions during the escalation of Chechen conflict. The narrator revisits historic aspects of its roots. The novel deals with the inevitability of ethical choices made by its central characters. At the same time it is a love story. Its Russian Doll structure incorporates a number of connected narrations with a shared background of Chechnya and the underlying history of Chechen conflict. Sofia, a local Russian professional woman in her late thirties, divorced, with two young daughters and Mark, a British salesman, meet in the early 90s in Grozny. The capital of the former Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Republic of the Soviet Union is on the brink of political upheaval. Trapped in a situation of extreme danger, Sofia is writing a book in attempt to make sense of the roots of the Chechen problem. Her reflections on historical issues of Chechnya take her back to her childhood memories and the stories told to her by her grandmother. Both characters are involved in a chain of events, taking place in the former Soviet Union. This allows the reader to follow the movement of former Soviet republics toward a capitalist economy through the development of perestroika. Sofia and Mark are two ordinary people separated by tragic circumstances and longing for reunion.