“Candid, unsentimental and extremely funny. I read it in one glorious go, laughing and crying throughout.” —Zoë Heller

“A deeply moving, beautifully written, and transforming story.” —Greg Mortensen, author of Three Cups of Tea

"There is such feeling and care on each page of Browning’s well-honed memoir . . .that the reader is swept along in a pleasant mood of transcendence.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"An evocative, often lyrical telling of the passing down through the generations of great psychological pain
and disturbance. . . A powerful book." —Kay Redfield Jamison, PhD, author of An Unquiet Mind and Nothing Was the Same

"A magnificent inquiry into the human condition." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Impressive. . . The best book written on this subject.” —Noam Chomsky

“[A] sympathetic, profoundly humanizing biography . . . [Francine] du Plessix Gray offers a timely mediation on female power, and an inspiring profile of one woman’s courage.” —Caroline Weber, Vogue

“In a strongly-written, fascinating, and original book, Jonathan Brent interweaves portraits of Russians in their daily lives with an astute analysis of Joseph Stalin's legacy.” —Philip Roth