A well trod 20th century path from childhood in Tsarist Russia to exile in Berlin, Paris and, finally, the United States. Nina Berberova's memoir tells the stories of malaise of life in exile, including portraits of Boris Pasternak, Maxim Gorky, Marina Tsvetaeva and Andrey Bely. Clive James has called this work 'the best single book written about Russian culture in exile'.