The Ship of Widows Format: Paperback

"My husband was killed at the front right at the beginning of the war." Thus opens The Ship of Widows, the story of five women brought together in a large communal apartment by the vagaries of war in the year 1943. It spotlights the female experience of World War II: the fate of those not at the front, but still forced to fight as desperately to survive starvation, cold, and exhaustion, and to maintain homes and a country to which the soldiers can return. The Ship of Widows reveals an seldom-seen period of Russia's history and an understudied segment of its population—its women.

"My husband was killed at the front right at the beginning of the war". Thus opens The Ship of Widows, the story of five women brought together in a large communal apartment by the vagaries of war in the year 1943. The narrative traces the ebb and flow of their relationships and the changes wrought in their lives by the birth of a son to one of the women. Grekova conveys vividly not only the decisive differences between the postwar generation and those who participated in the defense of their country, but also the extraordinary capacity of human nature to endure and overcome seemingly unendurable suffering and deprivation. Above all, this text spotlights female experiences of the war: the fate of those who did not engage in battle at the front, but fought just as desperately to survive starvation, cold, and exhaustion, to maintain homes and, in a sense, a country to which soldiers could return. Ship of Widows provides a cultural key to an understudied period of Russia's history and an understudied segment of its population - women. This new paperback edition includes an illuminating foreword by Helena Goscilo.