Svetlana Vasilenko belongs to the generation of Russian writers who began their literary careers in the interregnum between the late Stagnation--the end of Leonid Il'ich Brezhnev's rule--and perestroika, when Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev was in power. Her outspoken and self-conscious female characters, the personal tone of her narration, and her masterful use of metaphorical language instantly made her a name among critics and colleagues. Vasilenko's focus on the everyday grind of Russian life was deemed problematic, however, and for several years delayed her recognition as a writer. She has been labeled a "tough prose" writer by Deming Brown, a writer of "trench-truth" by Nikolai Shipilov and even a writer of "naturalism" by Pavel Basinsky.

Since the late 1980s Vasilenko's works have been a noticeable presence in the post-Soviet literary scene. She was nominated for the Booker Russian Novel Prize, the most prestigious literary award in Russia, in 1998 for Durochka...