This is a beautiful translation by John Farndon (with Olga Nakston) of the late Ravil Bukharaev’s literary existential novel memoir in which he explains to his wife how his Muslim faith and ideals influenced both his love for her and his understanding of life and self, particularly his quest for truth and ‘authenticity’. Throughout their long marriage, the writers and poets Ravil Bukharaev and Lydia Grigorieva had written in separate rooms in their home. In this deeply-felt and poetic memoir,...