Personal Effects
A Novel
Francesca Duranti
- An
- abandoned
- wife
- travels
- into
- the
- heart
- of
- the
- Eastern
- bloc
- in
- search
- of
- an
- elusive
- writer
- and
- her
- own
- identity
- in
- this
- wry
- and
- captivating
- satireValentina
- has
- spent
- the
- last
- decade
- as
- a
- most
- dutiful
- wife:
- cooking
- meals,
- cleaning
- house,
- and
- translating
- dry
- liturgical
- writings
- for
- her
- husband,
- Ricardo,
- to
- use
- in
- his
- own
- bestselling
- literary
- endeavors.
- When
- Ricardo
- leaves
- her
- for
- another
- woman,
- Valentina
- realizes
- there
- is
- little
- in
- her
- life
- that
- is
- truly
- hers.
- So
- she
- resolves
- to
- strike
- out
- on
- her
- own
- as
- a
- journalist
- and
- track
- down
- the
- elusive
- novelist
- Milos
- Jarco,
- hiding
- somewhere
- in
- pre-glasnost
- Eastern
- Europe.
- Perhaps
- in
- finding
- Jarco,
- she
- can
- find
- herself
- as
- well.The
- gray
- world
- she
- enters
- is
- marked
- by
- tight
- lips,
- guarded
- secrets,
- and
- universal
- mistrust.
- Her
- search
- for
- Jarco
- hits
- roadblock
- after
- roadblock.
- But
- on
- her
- odyssey
- through
- the
- Soviet
- hinterland,
- Valentina
- encounters
- something
- unexpected.
- She
- discovers
- passion
- .
- .
- .
- and
- oddly
- enough, freedom.
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