Description of book
'I left too early, before tanks rolled into Moscow in 1991, and before Gorbachev was put under home arrest in a failed coup. I left before Russia and Ukraine became separate countries, before the KGB archives were opened, before the Russian version of Wheel of Fortune, before the word 'Gulag' appeared in textbooks. I left before Chechnya, before the mass renaming of cities and streets, before you could go into a shop and actually purchase the books of Brodsky, Pasternak and Nabokov. I left too early, I missed the whole point. I was not there when my generation was cornered by history.'
Maria Tumarkin travels with her Australian-born teenage daughter, Billie, back to Russia and Ukraine to have her experience first-hand the seismic shifts of her family's native country. For Maria the trip back is no simple stroll down memory lane. Splintered and scattered across the world, her generation has ended up inhabiting vastly different realities. Along with exploring the political and cultural fallout of a century of turmoil, Maria wanted to bring together the worlds of her mother and daughter - the different continents, histories and experiences they encompassed.
Before they set off, Maria wistfully imagined her and Billie's hearts beating in unison as they travelled back to a past they could both understand, forging a nearly superhuman bond along the way. But, in Maria and Billie's case, the past was not simply another country, but one that no longer existed.
Otherland is the story of a six-week trip traversing three generations, three lifetimes and three profoundly different but profoundly interconnected stories of mothers and daughters.
Reviews
“Tumarkin is a consummate storyteller, and her sharp observations about the new Russia are intricately woven with her portraits of her family and their relationships.
A brilliant, absorbing book about mothers, daughters, place and belonging.”
Jo Case, Readings
“For the most part her account is fascinating, even exhilarating, and there is barely a dead word in the book. Tumarkin's viewpoint is unfailingly insightful with an overlay of pungent Russian humour. “
Robert Dessaix, The Age
“The blend of background historical and cultural ballast with personal family anecdotes offers one fetching way into the metamorphoses in another culture’s way of life.”
Mark Thomas, Canberra Times
“OTHERLAND is for readers who love words, ideas, history, and current affairs; who enjoy going beyond the bland package holiday when they travel; who feel enriched by glimpsing the world through the eyes of cultures other than their own.”
5 stars, Good Reading magazine
“The parts of the book where the complexities of this [mother/daughter] relationship are revealed and explored are honest and fascinating. Billie’s diary entries are included, and this adds another rich layer. Tumarkin has a conversational style, full of humour and surprising, original turns of phrase. An enriching and unusual book I highly recommend.”
Sue Bond, The Courier-Mail
“The literary beauty of OTHERLAND is essentially textual: multiple layers of memory and reflection, intertwining historical commentary, cultural and literary criticism, and personal reminiscence. It is at once a roadtrip of anecdotes peppered with yearning and longing as well as a politico-cultural window on a huge part of 20th century history.”
Ruth Wajnryb, The Sydney Morning Herald
“Thanks to this highly individual voice, OTHERLAND is another smart and provocative read.”
Judith Armstrong, “ABR”
Tumarkin writes beautifully, too, but rather than fencing her readers in, she guides us into fields we might not have otherwise found and then encourages us to wander.
Jeff Sparrow, "The Age" - Review of Tumarkin's previous work COURAGE
Maria Tumarkin's COURAGE comes as a form of central bank intervention, injecting a much-needed stimulus into courage's flagging fortunes.
Christopher Scanlon, "The Canberra Times" - Review of Tumarkin's previous work COURAGE