Kukotski Case

A descendant of a long and distinguished lineage of doctors, Pavel Kukótski is a respected gynaecologist with an almost supernatural gift for diagnosing diseases of the human body. With the ban on abortion imposed by Stalin in 1936, Kukótski witnesses its inhumane effects and fights tirelessly to have it legalised, risking his professional career as well as the harmony of his family life—with his wife, Elena, and their daughter, Tanya—which ultimately takes an unpredictable turn.

Set against more than half a century of Russian history—with arrests, deportations, the end of the Stalinist era, and the bohemian 1960s— The Kukótski Case is a family saga in the finest tradition of the Russian novel, exploring science and religion, freedom and morality, genetics and family, illness and life.

Winner of the Russian Booker Prize, it is one of Ludmila Ulitskaya’s most acclaimed works.