It is December 1941, and eight-year-old Galina and her friend Vera are caught in the siege of Leningrad, eating soup made of wallpaper, with the occasional luxury of a dead rat. Galina’s artist father Mikhail has been kept away from the front to help save the treasures of the Hermitage. Its cellars could now provide a safe haven, provided Mikhail can navigate the perils of a portrait commission from one of Stalin’s colonels.

Nearly forty years later, Galina herself is a teacher at the Leningrad Art Academy. What ought to be a celebratory weekend at her forest dacha turns sour when she makes an unwelcome discovery. The painting she embarks upon that day will hold a grim significance for the rest of her life, as the old Soviet Union makes way for the new Russia and Galina’s familiar world changes out of all recognition.

Warm, wise and utterly enthralling, Molly Gartland’s debut novel guides us from the old communist world, with its obvious terrors and its more surprising comforts, into the glitz and bling of 21st-century St Petersburg. Galina’s story is at once a compelling page-turner and an insightful meditation on ageing and nostalgia.

E-book available worldwide.

‍Paperback available in the USA and UK.

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Pelmeni Success!

mollygartland

May 1, 20201 min read

Updated: May 25, 2020

Today I put on my favourite Russian band, DDT, and we had a go at cooking pelmeni. I used the recipe on Olga’s Flavour Factory but I did cut it in half. We didn’t have the patience to make her full batch. I followed most of the recipe but I did not have any cabbage so I simply had a pork filling.

While editing The Girl from the Hermitage there was quite a bit of debate between me, my editor and copy editor about how to describe pelmeni. Olga describes them as a Russian dumpling on the recipe. I have also heard them described as a Russian ravioli. The dough is a bit more rubbery than a ravioli.

Pelmeni are a standard item in any Russian freezer. It is a go-to easy meal like fish fingers in the UK. When I was in Moscow, I’ll be honest and say I was never a huge fan of pelmeni. But a couple of months ago I went to a friend’s house and she had some fabulous homemade pelmeni that were delicious.

The pelmeni turned out fabulous and the whole family enjoyed a nice pelmeni dinner tonight. And then they all ordered an absurd quantity of Russian chocolate online. And the virtual e-book celebration continues!

Taking a break from the blog over the weekend. More Russian treats to follow next week.

Celebrating Food in Girl from the Hermitage

mollygartland

Apr 30, 20201 min read

Updated: May 25, 2020

A friend of mine just finished reading The Girl from the Hermitage and it inspired her to make a Borodinsky bread. This is my favourite Russian bread, dense dark rye with fragrant whole coriander seeds. Linda has been a bread baker for years, not one of these up-jump lockdown bakers and her Borodinsky is as good (or better!) as any you would get in Russia. It is a shame she lives so far away as I would like to get a loaf from her.

Inspired by Linda and in celebration of launch of the ebook, I am going to prepare some of the food mentioned in the novel and write about them in this blog post. Food is an essential theme throughout the novel so it will be interesting to explore this further.

First up, a delicious, chubby, cake-like cookie, priyaniki. I always loved priyaniki when I was living in Moscow but I had never made them before. This recipe from Olga’s Flavour Kitchen is wonderful. I chose it because it had the dark, well-spiced dough like I remembered. The house smelled divine as they baked.

I followed Olga’s recipe for the most part. I added extra spices and I ran out of honey so substituted maple and golden syrup. But they still turned out really well. They are a real treat and I am sure I will make them again.

Tomorrow on the menu is a dish that requires lots of hands on deck. Glad the kids are home to help me!

Stepping Out of Comfort Zone While Staying In

mollygartland

Mar 25, 20201 min read

When my fellow Lightning author, Tim Ewins, nominated me on Twitter to post a video of a reading from my novel, I panicked. But then I warmed up to the idea and it gave me a reason to shower and get dressed.

How are you stepping out of your comfort zone while staying in?

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Bio

Originally from Michigan, Molly Gartland worked in Moscow from 1994 to 2000 and has been fascinated by Russian culture ever since.

She has an MA in Creative Writing from St Mary’s University, Twickenham and lives in London.

The manuscript for her debut novel The Girl from the Hermitage was shortlisted for the Impress Prize and longlisted for the Mslexia Novel Competition, the Bath Novel Award and Grindstone Novel Award.

She is currently working on her second novel, Mrs. Jordan's Final Act, which has been shortlisted for the Historical Novel Society First Chapters Competition.

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