Andrey Kurkov: Садовник из Очакова (The Gardener from Ochakov)

The latest addition to my website is Andrey Kurkov‘s Садовник из Очакова (The Gardener from Ochakov). Igor lives alone with his mother but he does not work. His mother takes in Stepan as a gardener and Igor is able to find out that Stepan had some connection with the town of Ochakov. The pair go there and break into a building which Stepan’s father had some connection with. They find valuables, worthless Soviet cash and a Soviet police officer uniform. When Igor puts on the uniform to attend a retro party he is transported back to 1957 Ochakov and can go freely between 1957 Ochakov and present-day Ukraine. He investigates a gangster associated with Stepan’s father and falls in love. Time travel, romance, mystery, murder, comparison between Soviet and post-Soviet Ukraine, people questioning where their lives are going and a host of colourful characters – they are all there.

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