History of the Island

Eugene Vodolazkin’s second novel, Laurus, won both of Russia’s major literary awards, the National Big Book Award and the Yasnaya Polyana Book Award, and was shortlisted for the National Bestseller Prize and the Russian Booker Prize. His debut novel, Solovyov and Larionov, was shortlisted for the Andrei Bely Prize and the Big Book Award. Two other critically acclaimed novels, The Aviator and Brisbane, have also been translated into English. Vodolazkin was the 2019 winner of the Solzhenitsyn Prize. He was born in Kyiv in 1964 and has worked in the department of Old Russian Literature at Pushkin House since 1990. He is an expert in medieval history and folklore and has numerous academic books and articles to his name. The author lives with his family in St. Petersburg, Russia. Lisa C. Hayden’s translations from the Russian include Eugene Vodolazkin’s Solovyov and Larionov, The Aviator, and Laurus, which won the Read Russia Award in 2016 and was also shortlisted for the Oxford-Weidenfeld Prize along with her translation of Vadim Levental’s Masha Regina. Her blog, Lizok’s Bookshelf, examines contemporary Russian fiction. She lives in Maine.

Acclaim for Vodolazkin’s previous title Laurus:“A quirky, ambitious book ... Eugene Vodolazkin succeeds gloriously.” —Janet Fitch, Los Angeles Review of Books“In Laurus, Vodolazkin aims directly at the heart of the Russian religious experience and perhaps even at that maddeningly elusive concept that is cherished to the point of cliché: the Russian soul.” —The New Yorker“Brilliant storytelling ... a uniquely lavish, multilayered work.” —Booklist“A timeless epic ... pointed, touching, and at times humorous, unpredictably straying from the path and leading readers along a wild chase through time, language, and medieval Europe.” —Asymptote Journal“An epic journey novel in all the best traditions. There are countless colorful characters, exciting twists of fate, and profound truths in the protagonist’s words and deeds.” — Russian Life Magazine“Love, faith, and a quest for atonement are the driving themes of an epic, prizewinning Russian novel that, while set in the medieval era, takes a contemporary look at the meaning of time.…This affecting, idiosyncratic novel ... is an impressive achievement.” —Kirkus