View a FREE sample

Part One: Chapters I through III

• 18-year-old Kira Argounova and her family arrive at Petrograd in 1922 following the Communist Revolution.

• Kira and her family stay with her uncle Vasili, who also refuses to join in the revolution.

• Kira wants to study engineering. Her cousin Victor is also studying engineering.

• Kira's family does not approve of her desire to study engineering.

• Kira describes herself as "worshipping" joy.

Part One: Chapters IV through VII

• Kira and her family move into their own apartment.

• Victor shows romantic interest in Kira, but she turns him down.

• Kira meets a man in the park. His name is Leo, and they agree to meet a month later.

• Kira attends a Communist student demonstration where she meets a man named Andrei. They go to the opera together.

• Kira's father closes his store and begins making soap.

Part One: Chapters VIII through XI

• A man named...

(read more Chapter Abstracts)

This section contains 666 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample