It's a very Russian novel that is remarkably accessible to Western readers. The author has created a microcosm of Moscow in New York. All the real-time action of the novel takes place in an apartment, where you feel all the characters are sealed off from the rest of the world - and their adopted city. It's about one man - Alik - and his relationships with his Russian friends, in particular four women who attend his sickbed during the last few days of his life. The novel is in part about the women - their differences, their different relationships with this charismatic man - but it's also about being an emigre. Ulitskaya describes with subtlety and perception the struggle, and sometimes the resistance, in becoming a fully-fledged immigrant - the almost brutal act of finally rejecting home. The novel deals with this massive subject with a breathtakingly light touch - it's so plausible and poignant while being, always, wry and funny. The novel is set in August 1992, when Russians demonstrate outside the White House in Moscow, leading eventually to Gorbachev's removal from power. All the visitors to the apartment watch events back home on the TV. With an inspiring deftness, Ulitskaya reveals the unique place of the emigre - the loss of the old, the strangeness of the new - and the need for and comfort of friendship.