**The fascinating story of a young Russian filmmaker's attempts to
portray Catherine the Great, before and after the collapse of the Soviet
Union
**
Catherine the Great's life seems to have been made for the cinema--her
rise to power; her reportedly countless love affairs and wild sexual
escapades; the episodes of betrayal, revenge, and even murder--there's
no shortage of historical drama. But Oleg Erdmann, a young Russian
filmmaker, seeks to discover and portray Catherine's essential,
emotional truth, her real life beyond the rumors and façade. His first
screenplay just barely makes it past the Soviet film board and is
assigned to a talented director, but the resulting film fails to avoid
the usual clichés. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, as he
struggles to find a place for himself in the new order, Oleg agrees to
work with an old friend on a television series that becomes a quick
success--as well as increasingly lurid, a far cry from his original
vision. He continues to seek the real Catherine elsewhere.
With A Woman Loved, Andreï Makine delivers a sweeping novel about the
uses of art, the absurdity of history, and the overriding power of human
love, if only it can be uncovered and allowed to flourish.
