If you are expecting this book to be about sturgeon and Carrie Bradshaw from the title and the strangely incongruous mix that those two present, then you would be right – but only partly.
Because this is the story of Dmitry, a reporter who has been ousted from his paper, his investigative reporting taking him into the dark recesses where powerful people do not want a light shone, and who is now attempting to live a life which doesn’t have a lot in it. He has vodka; he has Bogdan, his fishing buddy; and he has his favourite fishing show, his comfort watch which he tunes into every night. Oh, and he has memories of lost love.
He is listless and doesn’t have a great deal to look forward to until one evening, Carrie Bradshaw appears on his screen when his fishing show is infiltrated by a dodgy satellite feed and “Sex and the City” replaces his normal viewing. Her appearance intensifies his memory of Yuliana, the love of his life and someone who he has never got over.
So, that’s Carrie dealt with. And the sturgeon? Caviar, of course, and the chance to sell it on the black market for roubles galore, which further, if successful and the fish is caught and sold, will give Dmitry the chance to get out of Irkutsk and pursue happiness, only it doesn’t quite go to plan and leads to hospital visits rather than liaisons.
This is an entertaining read throughout. It is fluidly written from start to finish and I was fully immersed in the text. The story ends well although a little open-endedly but I feel like there is scope to continue Dmitry’s story beyond these pages and it reaches a satisfactory conclusion with regard to the action unfolding within these particular pages.
What you should read this book for is the narrator because the narratorial voice is what makes this novel stand out: witty, gently poking fun at Dmitry, and with asides that provide commentary on current affairs and historical anecdotes with a knowingness that makes the reader feel like they’re sharing an in-joke built on mutually recognised intelligence, like an admired friend has his arm around your shoulder and is there exclusively to entertain you.
I liked it and I think that you probably will too.
This review was first published on Reedsy Discovery where I was privileged to read it as an ARC.
Scuffed Granny 