Chimes of a Lost Cathedral

by Janet Fitch

  The boat rocked on. The boy was quiet, sleeping or just thinking his orphan thoughts of fame and manly triumphs. The stars burned on, the sea air rich with the salt of the seven continents, bitter with every tear that had ever been shed, bright with every slice of starlight.

  I’d said goodbye to so many things in these last years. But whatever Anton said, whatever Akhmatova thought, they were wrong about this: I would remain a Russian poet to the end. Not her most faithful child, certainly no pillar for her cathedral, but hers nonetheless. Her own blood and bone pitched outward into the world—not a pillar, but a seed. I would float on the waters, carrying her songs, and sing them wherever I washed ashore.

  One by one, the stars blinked out. Gradually the sky paled, the celestial ink fading to gray. Ahead, the beach at Kuokkala emerged from the formless dark, its pinkish sands just discernable against the line of trees. Small waves rushed in, striking the land with a soft hiss. And strange joy arose in me, an unexpected lightness. I had imagined nothing but grief, perhaps a noble stoicism. But I could feel my sails unfurling, catching the light of early dawn. This stateless tramp, this seed, with nothing to my name but a couple of dresses, a pair of earrings, a wad of Kerensky bills of uncertain value, and ten thousand lines of Russian verse.

  I shook Makar awake. “It’s sunrise. Time to go.” The boy stretched and yawned as I hauled in the anchor.

  Acknowledgments

  No book is born on its own. Many midwives were at play in the writing of this novel. Always, thank you to the heroes of my writing life, my writing group, David Francis, Rita Williams, and Julianne Ortale, whose unfailing support saw this project through. To my daughter, Allison Strauss, my infinite gratitude for your sharp eye and unfailing judgment. To my tireless editor, Asya Muchnick, at Little, Brown, who unflinchingly shouldered Marina’s epic journey, as well as the entire team at Little, Brown for believing in this project. Thank you to Karen Landry, for shepherding this through the production process, and master mapmaker Jeffrey Ward, whose Civil War map graces these pages. And undying gratitude to my agent and champion Warren Frazier at John Hawkins and Associates, ever in my corner. And ever, William Reiss.

  Translation is a generous art and these translators personify the spirit and the calling. Depthless thanks to Boris Dralyuk, friend, mentor, and sounding board, who created original translations for much of the Russian verse that appears in this novel; to Brendan Kiernan, PhD, for his original translations from Notes of an Eccentric; and to the other translators who so kindly allowed me to use their work: Peter France, Antony Woods, and the estate of Stanley Mitchell. Deep thanks to Natalya Pollock for her oral translation of Olga Forsh’s novel Sumashedshiy Korabl’ (Crazy Ship), and to teacher and translator Dr. Judson Rosengrant, my literary Virgil into the manners and mores of the Russian intelligentsia.

  And I am humbly grateful to the Likhachev Foundation of St. Petersburg, Russia. The Likhachev Fellowship enabled me to do research with some of the most prestigious cultural institutions in St. Petersburg. Thank you Alexander Kobak, Elena Vitenberg, Inna Sviderskaya, Anna Shulgat, Sasha Vasiliev, and Ksenia Kobak, for your generosity and care. Many thanks to the Akhmatova Museum’s director Nina Popova, Tatyana Poznakova in the Education Department, and Masha Korosteleva; at the Museum of Political History, Alexey Kulegin and Alexander Kalmykov; at the Museum of the City of St. Petersburg, Irina Karpenko; and at the Museum of the Peter and Paul Fortress, Julia Danidelova. Special thanks to Eireene Nealand, translator and friend, for alerting me to the Likhachev Fellowship, and for introducing me to contemporary St. Petersburg poets. Thank you Tobin Auber, for your warm welcome and unique insider views, and Andrey Nesteruk and his parents for their memorable tour of hidden St. Peterburg.

  Research was the oxygen in the water of this novel. I thank the eminent Russian historians Alexander Rabinowitch and Arch Getty, social historian Choi Chatterjee, and art historian John Bowlt, as well as the H-Russia List-Serv. Much gratitude goes to the USC libraries, where a large part of this research was done, and to Reed College, whose 2007 alumni trip under the guidance of Dr. Rosengrant began my research, and whose alumni support services allowed me essential access to the JSTOR digital library.

  Novelists not only require the world, they also require retreat from the world, and this book found many a kind harbor in the years of its writing. Many thanks to those who offered me shelter and the gift of time—David Lewis and Liz Sandoval; Eduardo Santiago and Mark Davis; Brett Hall Jones, Louis Jones, and the Hall Family; Andrew Tonkovich and Lisa Alvarez; Jan Rabson and Cindy Akers; Wendy Goldstein and Sharon Smith; Chris Nicholls and Lorca Moore; and the Helen R. Whiteley Fellowship at the University of Washington Friday Harbor Laboratories.

  I want to thank my father, Vernon Fitch, who first put Dostoyevsky into my restless teenaged hands, sparking the flame that down through the years resulted in this book, and my mother, Alma Fitch, an irresistible force, who taught me that girls can do anything. Eternal memory.

  Most of all, I want to thank my husband, Andrew John Nicholls, for his boundless good humor, astute judgment, and willingness to read so many drafts, calm so many storms, cheer me when it looked impossible, and who taught me to celebrate prematurely whenever possible. I love you more than I can say.

  For an overview of the books that shaped my understanding of the revolution and other insights into Marina’s world, please visit: www.janetfitchwrites.com.

  Also by Janet Fitch

  The Revolution of Marina M.

  Paint It Black

  White Oleander

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  About the Author

  Janet Fitch’s first novel, White Oleander, a #1 bestseller and Oprah’s Book Club selection, has been translated into twenty-eight languages and was made into a feature film. Her second novel, Paint It Black, hit bestseller lists across the country and has also been made into a film. Her third novel, The Revolution of Marina M., begins an epic journey through the Russian Revolution. She lives with her husband in Los Angeles.

  janetfitchwrites.com

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