The Summer Guest, Alison Anderson
The Summer Guest, Alison Anderson
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The Summer Guest
A Novel

Author: Alison Anderson

Narrator: Julia Emelin, Lucy Rayner, Kirsten Holly Smith

Unabridged: 11 hr 38 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 05/24/2016


Synopsis

What if Anton Chekhov, undisputed master of the short story, actually wrote a novel—and the manuscript  still existed? This tantalizing possibility drives The Summer Guest, a spellbinding narrative that draws together, across two centuries, the lives of three women through the discovery of a diary.During the long, hot summer of 1888, an extraordinary friendship blossoms between Anton Chekhov and Zinaida Lintvaryova, a young doctor. Recently blinded by illness, Zinaida has retreated to her family’s estate in the lush countryside of Eastern Ukraine, where she is keeping a diary to record her memories of her earlier life. But when the Chekhov family arrives to spend the summer at a dacha on the estate, and she meets the middle son Anton Pavlovich, her quiet existence is transformed by the connection they share. What begins as a journal kept simply to pass the time becomes an intimate, introspective narrative of Zinaida’s singular relationship with this doctor and writer of growing fame.More than a century later, in 2014, the unexpected discovery of this diary represents Katya Kendall’s last chance to save her struggling London publishing house. Zinaida’s description of a gifted young man still coming to terms with his talent offers profound insight into a literary legend, but it also raises a tantalizing question: Did Chekhov, known only as a short story writer and playwright, write a novel over the course of their friendship that has since disappeared? The answer could change history, and finding it proves an irresistible challenge for Ana Harding, the translator Katya hires. Increasingly drawn into Zinaida and Chekhov’s world, Ana is consumed by her desire to find the “lost” book. As she delves deeper into the moving account of two lives changed by a meeting on a warm May night, she discovers that the manuscript is not the only mystery contained within the diary’s pages.Inspired by the real friendship between Chekhov and the Lintvaryov family, landowners in the Ukraine, The Summer Guest is a masterful and utterly compelling literary novel that breathes life into a vanished world, while exploring the transformative power of art and the complexity of love and friendship.

About Alison Anderson

ALISON ANDERSON, a native Californian, works as a literary translator in the Swiss Alps. Her many translations include the Europa edition of Muriel Barbery’s The Elegance of the Hedgehog, Ingrid Betancourt’s memoir, and the work of JMG De Clezio. She has also written two previous novels and is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Literary Translation Fellowship, as well as fellowships at the prestigious MacDowell Colony and the Hawthornden Retreat for Writers.www.alison-anderson.com


Reviews

Goodreads review by Angela M on May 26, 2016

4+ stars . Edited 5/26 to include a link to an article in the author's website which has wonderful images and a note on her writing of this wonderful novel . [URL not allowed]-summer... Review : I should say at the beginning that I knew very little about Anton Chekhov, other than he was a......more

Goodreads review by Jill on April 25, 2016

The Anton Pavlovich Chekhov we meet within Alison Anderson’s pages is more than one of the greatest writers of short fiction in history. He’s a real charmer: right at the cusp of being recognizes for his immense talent, a self-effacing, gentle and confident young man who charms three sisters at a fa......more

Goodreads review by Paula on June 06, 2016

Great summertime read if you love historical fiction. And if you are a Chekhovian reader. Beautifully written with evocative and vivid descriptions. I really enjoyed this enchanting escape. The middle of the book gets tedious and sinks somewhat, but the momentum of this very talented writer carries......more

Goodreads review by switterbug (Betsey) on May 07, 2016

Three women’s lives intersect, bridging the past and the present, crossing the borders of time. One woman is long deceased, but what she left behind could alter the destiny of the other two. Katya Kendall, a Russian émigré married to a Brit, is trying to save her small, financially troubled publishi......more

Goodreads review by Heather on July 13, 2016

This book made me want to read more about Anton Chekov and more by him. But this book is really about the women in the story from past and present time and their connection. The voyeur in me enjoyed the diary of Zinaida the best but all three women have compelling personal stories. This is a bit of......more