'A scintillating book' TLS 'Her company is a delight' Tatler 'Part memoir, part social history... sumptuous and unsparing' Financial Times A brilliantly witty memoir telling the story of a young woman's determined struggle for freedom The Orient Express hurtles towards the promised land, freeing Banine from her past. Escaping her ruined homeland and forced marriage, she aspires to a dazzling future in Paris. As a chic Parisienne she mingles with émigrés, artists and writers-and even contemplates love. But freedom brings challenges. Swept along by the forces of history, can Banine keep up? Filled with vivacious wit and a lust for life, this companion to Days in the Caucasus is a paean to bittersweet dreams and the quest for happiness. Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: timeless storytelling by icons of literature, hand-picked from around the globe Translated by Anne Thompson-Ahmadova Banine (1905-1992) was born Umm El-Banu Assadullayeva, into a wealthy family in Baku, then part of the Russian Empire. Following the Russian Revolution and the subsequent fall of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, Banine was forced to flee her home country-first to Istanbul, and then to Paris. In Paris she formed a wide circle of literary acquaintances including Nicos Kazantzakis, André Malraux, Ivan Bunin and Teffi and eventually began writing herself. Parisian Days continues the story that began with Days in the Caucasus, which is also available from Pushkin Press.

"A scintillating book" - TLS

"'Part memoir, part social history Parisian Days reads like a novel, its sumptuous and unsparing prose once again beautifully carried over into English by Anne Thompson-Ahmadova [and] for all its comic bravura, takes unflinching aim at Russia's colonial legacy amid the privations of exile'" - Financial Times

"No less charming than its predecessor... to read Parisian Days is to luxuriate in Banine's powers of description and uncanny aptitude for the telling turn of phrase, in which she is, as previously, ably served by her translator Anne Thompson-Ahmadova" - Asian Review of Books

"Praise for Days in the Caucasus:" - -

"Every so often a voice emerges from the archive so vivid that it seems impossible that it should ever have been forgotten" - Evening Standard

"A delightful memoir of an eventful life set against the helter-skelter of the 20th century... Banine herself shines through as an intelligent and independent spirit, longing for her own self-determination" - Financial Times

"An enchanting memoir" - Evening Standard

"I started to leaf through the book and was soon engrossed... So vividly and wittily does the author reveal to us an utterly unfamiliar world" - Teffi

"An effervescent and irreverent feat of recollection and imagination-epic in sweep yet intimate in tone-that introduces the reader to an exotic, antique world and to characters so vividly drawn that their raucous voices seem to echo long after they have vanished from sight" - Wall Street Journal

"This jewel of a memoir, written in 1945 but only now published in English, has all the makings of a Tolstoyan drama." - The New Internationalist

"Banine's autobiography captures a rarefied world on the brink of extinction" - Spectator

"Filtering her childhood ambitions through the lens of maturity, Banine recreates a world that is both believable and thoroughly engrossing" - Times Literary Supplement

"Banine tells her story - first loves, forced marriage, exile and Paris - with wit and warmth. Never one to take anything too seriously, her company - and her memoir - is a delight" - Tatler

"An absolute joy-full of adventure, travel, and youthful dreams" - Foreword Review

"An exquisite book" - Paysage dimanche

"A devilish story, like a finely spiced dish, bringing verve, joy and charm along with its delicious style" - Action

"A vivid coming-of-age story that also provides a valuable glimpse of a life lived in a half-Islamic, half-western world at a pivotal moment in history" - The National

"[Banine] has a wickedly whetted tongue, and enough self-awareness to refuse sparing herself from her own reflections... Her writing is gorgeously translated by Anne Thomson-Ahmadova" - The Arts Desk

"Recreates a vivid world... sardonic wit and colourful characterisation... reflective and heart-wrenching... powerfully conveyed in the translated prose" - Riveting Reviews

"[A] witty and wonderful childhood memoir" - Literary Review

"Leads us on a delightful stroll, occasionally breaking into a somewhat mad dance, across a colourful, unfamiliar world" - Paru

"A stunning book... With all the freshness of childhood memories, this is anything but some sentimental story nostalgically written in flowery script on sepia paper" - Critique des idées et des livres

"A book to give those gloomy souls who find daily existence banal" - Lettres francaises