Andrey Kurkov talks to Boyd Tonkin

Leading Ukrainian novelist and journalist Andrey Kurkov discusses his latest novel The Silver Bone and the situation in the war-torn country.

The Silver Bone is set in Kyiv of 1919 when the Soviets control the city but White armies threaten them from the west. No man trusts his neighbour and any spark of resistance may ignite into open rebellion. When Samson Kolechko’s father is murdered, his last act is to save his son from a falling Cossack sabre. Deprived of his right ear instead of his head, Samson is left an orphan, with only his father’s collection of abacuses for company. Samson can hear with uncanny clarity the plans of Red Army soldiers who have requisitioned his flat and he stumbles into a world of murder and intrigue. The novel is inspired by real-life archives of crime enforcement in Kyiv and is marked by Kurkov’s signature humour and magic realism.

‘Ukraine’s greatest living novelist’ New European

Kurkov was born in Leningrad. He is a pioneer of self-publishing. His novel, Death and the Penguin, was an international bestseller. He lives in Kyiv and has become known as a commentator on Ukraine for international media. Here he talks to author, journalist, literary critic and chair of the 2016 International Booker Boyd Tonkin.