Hospital Sketches Book

This review was written and originally posted in 2006.

The Death Of A Poet The Last days of Marina Tsevtaeva
By Irma Kudrova.

When I started reading this book I had no idea of
how topical it would be come before I finished
reading it. Since the poisoning of Alexander
Litvinenko the ex-KGB spy in London, there have
been several mentions of Marina Tsvetaeva and her
husband Sergei Efron and with good reason.
Even though Marina comitted suicide in 1941 the
connection she has to current events is to do
with the fact that both her husband and herself
has switched sides from being White russians
living in exile in Paris to becomeing Red
Russians and being repatriated in 1939.
Why did she commit suicide well by 1941 it had
become pretty apparent that her husband Sergei's
activities in Paris working undercover for the
NKVD trying to persuade Russian emigres to
repatriate had caused at the very least the
imprisonment of all who repatriated and at worse
the death of most of them. He was also allegedly
involved in the Reiss affair just prior to WW2
which was portrayed at the time of Russia
murdering it's enemies abroad as well as at home!
It was also shortly after the Reiss murder that
Sergei Efron Repatriated to russia with Marina
Following him. the inevitable then happens and
first her daughter is arrested and then Sergei.
Her daughter didn't get released till after her
mother had hung herself and Sergei had been
executed before Marina killed herself but she
hadn't been informed of his death.
Yes this book is one big tragic story of betrayal
and death and suffering and toruture complete
with KGB interrogation records and all the detail
you could want.
My only criticism of the book is that it has way
too many notes some of which go on for 2 or 3
pages at a time, which made it hard going in some
places.
A good read for anyone interested in the murky
underbelly of secret police and fear tactics.