Is Baba Dunja's Last Love a portrait of your grandmother?
I love writing about grandmothers. I am blessed with two wonderful grandmothers myself, but I try not to portrait members of my family. They would never forgive me.
Alina Bronsky
A book about Chernobyl sounds really scary.
It does. But I am happy to be told by my readers that my book is neither scary nor depressing. It's sad at times - but also rather funny.
What made you break the taboo of writing a light-hearted novel about such a tragic event?
The book is not a documentary about the Chernobyl catastrophe, it is about the perseverance of life and nature after disaster. It is about the freedom and independence of people who are supposed to be weak and compliant. But even when you write a piece of comedy full of life you can't leave out death.
"Have you ever done any research in the Chernobyl zone?"
No! I have spent lots of hours at my desk, reading a lot and watching documentaries. But even so I was lucky to be told by readers who have have been in the radiation zone that astonishingly many things in my book are authentic. This is something I never hoped for.
Are you as brave as your heroine is?
Not at all. I fear lots of things, radiation among them.
Everyone in Europe knows where he or she was when they first heard about the Chernobyl desaster. What were you doing?
Honestly, I don't remember. I was eight years old and lived in the Soviet Union, where the policy about releasing news was rather different from what it is in Europe today. So at first I did not hear anything about the catastrophe. I don't know when I first perceived the word "Chernobyl" in connection with something dark and terrible, but with no knowledge of any details.
Was the novel a way to process your own Chernobyl trauma?
No. I have lots of phobias, but this is not one of them.
Was it difficult for a woman your age to write about a much older woman?
Not at all. It would be rather boring to write only about people of your own age. And it's an illusion to think that a 37-year-old is automatically much closer to another 37-year-old than to someone in their eighties.
Baba Dunja talks to the dead. What does that mean?
It means a lot to me. But the interpretation is on you. If a reader prefers to think she has a problem with her brain blood vessels, I am fine with that.
Who is Baba Dunja's last love mentioned in the title?
I have something in mind, of course. But, sorry, I am not telling anybody.
