Homeward from Heaven (Russian Library)

Even though he died before he was forty years old, escaped the Russian Revolution, and only published a handful of excerpts and works before he died, Boris Poplavsky was hailed as one of the leading writers by his peers in France and within surrealism. Readers are treated to a translation to his final novel Homeward From Heaven in which readers are given a taste of what it would have been like living in the French Riviera between the world wars.

We follow Oleg who loves two different women, both of whom will impact Oleg’s life. This is a semi-autobiographical novel. He follow Tania to a seaside resort who jilts him after a passionate intimacy. Oleg then meets Katia who finds intimacy and emotional candor. Oleg meets with Tania one last time to comprehend the laws of physical love.

The reader’s enjoyment of the book will entirely depend on how they feel about surrealist writers, who worked to do away with conventional plots, narration and the like; though ultimately they were unsuccessful to change the novel in society.