A review by eleanorfranzen
Memories - From Moscow to the Black Sea by Teffi

Teffi was an extremely popular writer in early twentieth-century Russia, producing plays, journalism, short stories, and little satirical sketches called feuilletons. In 1918, as the Russian Civil War was in full swing, she embarked on what was meant to be a short reading tour in the southern provinces, but never came home: the political situation deteriorated fast and she ended up bouncing between cities for over a year before finally taking ship for Constantinople. Memories is about that long flight. Bits of it are very funny, like the women who take advantage of emigration panic to get cut-price fabric and a decent haircut (no one else is out and about!) Much of it is chilling: one of Teffi’s early events in a theatre ends with the women of the town calling to her from the audience, “God bless you, sweetheart… we hope you get out.” She usually doesn’t portray graphic violence, but there’s a terrible two days in a town run by a sadistic female commissar: on a walk to the river, Teffi and her fixer see dogs gnawing on body parts. Memories gives the impression of someone walking a mental tightrope. It’s not that Teffi doesn’t know or care what’s going on; it’s that the only way to keep sane is to brush lightly over the horrors. Before leaving Russia for good, she climbs a hill in Novorossiysk that holds a gallows and thinks about the last hours of a female anarchist named Ksenya G who was murdered there, a brilliant and moving parallel to her own symbolic impending “death” in exile. Memories reads fast and easy yet sticks in the mind. Very worthwhile.