Fitzgerald's novel of pre-revolutionary Moscow, shortlisted for the
Booker Prize. Featuring an introduction by Andrew Miller.
"Fitzgerald was the author of several slim, perfect novels. The Blue
Flower and The Beginning of Spring both had me abuzz for days the
first time I read them. She was curiously perfect."-- Teju Cole, author
of Open City
"Writing so precise and lilting it can make you shiver." -- Los Angeles
Times
March 1913. Moscow is stirring herself to meet the beginning of spring.
English painter Frank Reid returns from work one night to find that his
wife has gone away; no one knows where or why, or whether she'll ever
come back. All Frank knows for sure is that he is now alone and must
find someone to care for his three young children. Into Frank's life
comes Lisa Ivanovna, a quiet, calming beauty from the country,
untroubled to the point of seeming simple. But is she? And why has
Frank's bookkeeper, Selwyn Crane, gone to such lengths to bring these
two together?