Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Olga receives a phone call from a man she thought she’d never hear from again. Her life has changed since their childhood together in the Soviet Union. She has settled down with a girl she loves and has moved on from her previous life.

Answering the call opens a Pandora's box of haunting memories and unsolved puzzles: an unexplained murder in her childhood block, a supernatural stray dog, and the mystery of her beloved brother Moshe, who lost an eye and later vanished.

In the search for answers, Olga uncovers an underground midwestern Russian mafia, and a string of connected stabbings, all of which seem irrevocably linked to her past, threatening the life she has created for herself.

In A Door Behind a Door, Yelena Moskovich continues her exploration of the post-Soviet diaspora, through a mesmeric blending of past and present, desire and violence.

Praise for Yelena Moskovich and A Door Behind a Door

‘The content and form of A Door Behind a Door are jarring at times, which is part of the point--nothing as dark, unexpected, and sexy as this should feel like anything other than a fever dream... Those who enjoy experimental forms, thought-provoking material, and a good thrill will delight in this haunting novel.’
– Los Angeles Review of Books

‘A phantasmagoria about immigration, death, and queer desire.’
– Chicago Review of Books

‘Part thriller and part narrative experiment, A Door Behind a Door is utterly unique.’
– Buzzfeed

‘Dynamic style and psychological depth make this an engaging mind bender.’
– Publishers Weekly

‘Yelena Moskovich plays with pop culture, clichés, and language to explore everything from gender and queer desire to immigration, memory, nostalgia, and the impact of political historical events over individual lives... The poetic language, which brings an idiosyncrasy to each character and place, carries through the sense of alienation and sadness, love and desire, longing and unreliable memory.’
– Calvert Journal

‘Striking. Bold. Inventive. Yelena Moskovich is in a league of her own with A Door Behind a Door.’
– Independent Book Review

‘A highly addictive book, unfolding in poetic little bursts that take up and stretch noirish crime fiction, the Russian literary inheritance, and surrealism.’
– Full Stop Magazine

‘A tense puzzle box of a tale... This impressionistic novel is relayed in short paragraphs of sparse, measured prose as Moskovich portrays a loosely connected group of Russian immigrants caught up in a heady mixture of desire and violence.’
– Booklist

‘The type of novel that will completely divide readers, but if you have any interest in experimental fiction then this should be at the top of your TBR pile.’
– Cultured Vultures

‘The closest you’ll get to reading a David Lynch film.’
– Paperback Paris

‘Without a doubt one of the best working writers today.’
– The Big Smoke

‘If you are willing to take a leap into the unknown, the payoff is most assuredly there in Moskovich’s extraordinary writing.’
– Nerd Daily

‘Moskovich’s multi-layered novel speaks to mercy and salvation, on undisclosed terms, and the highest compliment I can pay to one of the most dynamic contemporary authors working in the field: She makes you happy to be a reader.’
– Riot Material

‘Wonderfully original... if you are a fan of David Lynch or Haruki Murakami, this sort of joyful acceptance of the bizarre will come easily.’
– Guardian, on The Natashas

About the author

Yelena Moskovich is a Ukrainian-born American and French artist and writer, author of of Virtuoso, long-listed for the Dylan Thomas Prize, and The Natashas (Serpent’s Tail, 2019, 2016). She emigrated to Wisconsin with her family as Jewish refugees in 1991, then alone to Paris, France in 2007. She has also written for Vogue, Frieze, Apartamento, Times Literary Supplement, Paris Review, Mixte, Dyke_On Magazine, amongst others.

Paperback ISBN: 9781910312933

Ebook ISBN: 9781910312940

Publication date: February 2022

Formats: Paperback / eBook