The Lady of the Mine

by Sergei Lebedev

The mystical laundress at the center of this novel is obsessed with purity. Her task is formidable as she stands guard over a sealed shaft at a Ukrainian coalmine that hides terrible truths. The bodies of dead Jews lying in its depths seem to attract still more present-day crimes.

Acclaimed Russian author Sergei Lebedev portrays a ghostly realm riven by lust and fear just as the Kremlin invades the same part of Ukraine occupied by the Wehrmacht in World War Two. Then corpses rain from the sky when a jetliner is shot down overhead, scattering luxury goods along with the mortal remains. Eerie coincidences and gruesome discoveries fill this riveting exploration of an uncanny place where the geography exudes violence, and where the sins of the past are never all that far in the past. Lebedev, who has won international praise for his soul-searching prose and unflinching examination of history’s evils, shines light on the faultline where Nazism met Soviet communism, evolving into the new fascism of today’s Russia.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Russia, Literature

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 7, 2025

About the author

Sergei Lebedev was born in Moscow in 1981 and worked for seven years on geological expeditions in northern Russia and Central Asia. Lebedev is a poet, essayist and journalist. His novels have been translated into many languages and received great acclaim in the English-speaking world.

Reviews

[Ірина Грабовська · Rating 1 out of 5]

Як корінна мешканка Донбасу, що походить з родини, яка мешкала на цій землі століттями; як людина, що виросла в Сніжному і навчалася в Донецьку; як українка і як письменниця я обурена самим фактом того, що росіянин береться писати про мою батьківщину під час повномасштабного вторгнення.

Сєргєй Лєбєдєв, ви росіянин. І ніби як ПРОТИ ПУТІНА. У вас зовсім нема совісті? Ви не чули про колоніалізм? Почитайте на досугє. Мені чхати на ваші мотиви, на ваш лист «нєт войнє», ваші рецензії від Алєксієвич і англійські грантові переклади, ви не маєте ЖОДНОГО ЖОДНІСІНЬКОГО права писати про мою землю під час геноцидальної війни, яку проводять ваші співвітчизники. Ви винні в тому, що Донбас знищено - морально, промислово, культурно і фізично. Це не Путін, це росіяни. І після всього ви хайпуєте на темі, коли українські письменники хто в могилі, хто на фронті, а кому бракує слів від травми. Це огидно.

[Katya · Rating 1 out of 5]

заїбали ви писати про те, що не ваше, от що я вам скажу, спекулянти.

мені все одно яку широкомасштабну ідею ви збираєтеся доносити, ви все одно не маєте на це права.

пишіть про свої міста, а Донецький басейн – це Україна.

for foreigners interested in the topic:
you can read documentary books such as The Language of War by Oleksandr Mykhed or Absolute Zero by Artem Chekh.
they picture reality that isn’t told by russian who has nothing to do with it

[Emiliya Bozhilova · Rating 1 out of 5]

Лебедев се е предал на отчаянието. Пределът на поносимия мрак е отдавна прекрачен.

Книгата е непоносима не заради темата, не заради типажите, населяващи една вечно изпепелявана от терора на някоя масова лудост земя като Донбас. Непоносима е заради пълния мрак у самия Лебедев. Не знам какво да кажа в лицето на такова явление, но не мисля, че точно тази книга е трябвало да бъде писана. Лебедев е изключително етичен писател, със силно развито чувство за справедливост! Но целият товар на моменти сякаш го смазва…

Защото за Украйна тя не казва нищо, освен, че за пореден път доказва как токсичният разпад на СССР ражда нови уродливи форми на политически реваншизъм и военен терор. За които няма нужда от тези страници, защото страниците са единствено лични. Сюрреализмът е болезнено излишен. Както и историческите обобщения. Тук трябва реализъм. И конкретика. Самата идея е достойна и благородна - но отчаянието и пречупването на изразяващия я обезмислят.

[Ends of the Word · Rating 5 out of 5]

Antonina W. Bouis is an indefatigable champion of Sergei Lebedev, whose works she has masterfully translated into English. After A Present Past: Titan and Other Chronicles, the Lebedev/Bouis duo return to New Vessel Press with The Lady of the Mine, a novel which inhabits the same ghostly, subtly disturbing, fairy-tale atmosphere of his short stories.

The “lady” of the title is Marianna, a laundress who through unexplained mystical powers stands guard over a sealed shaft at a Ukrainian coal mine that hides collective sins. Buried in the shaft are countless victims of the various totalitarian regimes which have held sway and succeeded each other throughout the 20th Century. Marianna, with her fixation on purity and cleanliness, manages to keep the ghosts of the mine at bay, abetted by a coven of other “laundresses” who share her powers. Then, Russia invades Ukraine, and Marianna succumbs to a painful terminal illness which robs her of her powers, setting off a violent chain of events. Her daughter Zhanna appears poised to take her place, but not until present and past sins are, at least in part, avenged.

Russian literature has long had a surreal, fantastical streak to it, akin to magical realism perhaps, but drawing from local folktales and legends. Lebedev taps into this tradition with his tale of witchy laundresses, talking ghosts and uncanny portents. He creates a fable which is, alas, inspired by all-too-current tragedies, but also reminds us that the roots of the present reach back into a dark and distant past. As with his short story collection, this novel is an indictment of totalitarian violence across the political divide: Stalinism, its forebears and successors, but also Nazism and antisemitism. It may all sound depressing, but the novel ends on a surprising note of hope.

https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/20...

[Melisende · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hauntingly brilliant.

[Piotr · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Czekam na dodanie tutaj polskiego wydania - może jakiś Bibliotekarz w końcu się zlituje... dobrze by było, bo to zbyt ważna książka, by na GR nie było po niej śladu.)
Rozumiem ale nie podzielam ocen ukraińskich czytelników - przyszedł mi od razu na myśl "Blaszany bębenek" Grassa - przez lata przez cenzurę nie dopuszczany, jak w ramach kolejnej "odwilży" dozwolony - to niemiłosiernie pocięty. Czy Polacy powinni mieć za złe Niemcowi (warto pamiętać, że biorącemu potem w niej udział), że pisze o wojnie, wywołanej przez swoich rodaków? O popełnianych przez nich zbrodniach? Lebiediew jest jednoznaczny w swoich ocenach, nie zostawia żadnych wątpliwości, po której staje stronie. I czy zasługuje za to na zarzut koniunkturalizmu??

Książka jest bardzo dobra. Ta wielostrumieniowa, wieloosobowa narracja niezwykle się sprawdza i wciąga. A że Lebiediew jest pierwszorzędnym stylistą - kto czytał, ten dobrze wie - każdy narrator opowiada własnym, bardzo wiarygodnym głosem; własnym wręcz stylem.

I by osądzać, warto przeczytać poprzednie książki - to jest niezwykle konsekwentna ta sama opowieść: Lebiediew - niczym (a jednak!) spełniony paleontolog, przegrzebuje się przez kolejne pokłady rosyjskiej/sowieckiej (diabli wiedzą jakiej jeszcze) historii. Nam pozwala lepiej ją pojąć - a Rosjanom - miejmy nadzieję - jakoś tę postępującą amnezję powstrzymywać.

(!) i jaki zbieg okoliczności: https://www.theguardian.com/commentis...

[Olga Zilberbourg]

A washer woman dies in a mining village in the Donbas, Ukraine in July of 2014, and two days later invading Russian soldiers shoot a foreign passenger jet out of the sky. In the mystical world built by Sergei Lebedev, this seemingly unrelated sequence of events acquires the force of world-shattering causality.

My full review here: https://www.ronslate.com/on-the-lady-...

[Larry Fontenot · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were portions of this book that I liked immensely; and portions that were less than stellar. Lebedev certainly knows how to draw metaphors that vividly illustrates the continuing inhumanity among nations and the trinkle down effect among its citizens. The story of Zhanna and her mother Marianna is both personal and symbolic. The other narrators are less carefully drawn, but still important. The Engineer, in particular, has the duty to inform readers of the devastating results of war and the blundering system of cover-up that persists in governments around the world. So much of this book reminds me of current events in our own nation. Their is little hope for justice in this book and the ending reminds us that the cleansing of blood-stained cloth remains an on-going task.

[Senya22]

Sergey Lebedev’s *The Lady of the Mine* brings his signature blend of personal stories and grand historical narratives to a setting fraught with contemporary resonance: the Donbas region in July 2014. The novel traces the return of Zhanna, a student from Kharkiv, to her mining village to care for her dying mother. Simultaneously, two men—Valet, a young neighbor, and Korol, an aging intelligence officer—arrive from Moscow on a mission from Russian military command. Against this backdrop, the story builds toward an impending calamity, interwoven with buried horrors from seventy years earlier that the townspeople know but do not speak of.

The book’s context and subject matter make it inevitably polarizing. On one hand, it could be seen as an exploration of how history repeats itself in cycles of violence and silence, forcing readers to confront the uneasy coexistence of personal lives and geopolitical ambitions. On the other hand, its narrative risks being perceived as reinforcing Western-centric narratives of moral culpability in the conflict, or even as playing into propaganda frameworks that reduce complex situations to digestible archetypes.

If the work is not intentionally propagandistic, it nonetheless reflects a sharp critique of how power operates—both overtly, through state apparatuses, and covertly, through the erasure or exploitation of historical memory. Its depiction of the Donbas as a stage where personal and historical tragedies intersect resonates deeply, though the lens through which it views these events could strike different readers as either necessary illumination or yet another spin on a contested narrative.

For those familiar with Lebedev's style, the novel will feel like an extension of his broader literary project: unpacking the entanglements of human lives with systems of power and the ghosts of unresolved histories. For others, it may feel like a grim commentary on how easily people and places become pawns in the games of the powerful. Whether one sees it as an earnest literary endeavor or as a product shaped by ideological undercurrents, it is undeniably a thought-provoking and layered work.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a dark book of literary fiction, focusing on Marianna, a mystical woman who has taken on the role of guardian to a mine shaft filled with bodies of massacred people from different time periods. One quote: "Under us lie Red Army prisoners shot by the Germans. Beneath them, people shot by the Bolsheviks when the Red Army was retreating, and prisoners of Soviet Prisons. Under them, people executed in the Civil War by advancing and retreating troops, Whites, Reds, Greens, random people, hostages. Below them, the murdered strikers of the first revolution, in 1905."
She does this to stop the evil associated with these deaths from spreading. But then she dies, and Russia invades Ukraine. The Russians shoot down a passing passenger jetliner, killing all aboard.
The book is mostly narration, with little dialogue, mostly thoughts of the various narrators.
Narrators:
Zhanna, daughter to Marianna
Valet, Exiled from Ukraine years ago by Marianna. He has now returned with the
invading Russians.
General Korol, one of the invading Russians. He was once stationed as a young KGB officer.
The Engineer, not identified by name. He is one of the bodies in the mine shaft. He was murdered by the Germans in WWII because he was Jewish. He designed the mine shaft to be deeper and completely straight, unlike most mine shafts.
The book takes over a period of five days in July 2014. The translation was excellent. I rate it 4 stars.
Thank You New Vessel Press for sending me this pre release book through LibraryThing.
Pub date Jan. 7, 2025

[Tania Larina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Звучит как ирония и сарказм с большой буквы - и в контексте сюжета, и в контексте профессии автора (журналист как никак). Учитывая, в каких условиях сейчас выживают украинцы, играть чувствами миллионов и зарабатывать на издании подобной книги - аморально.
Во-вторых, легче писать о каких-то евреях, каких-то украинцах и нацизме, чем освещать историю своей страны, которую всеми силами упаковали в архивы и прячут от всего цивилизованного мира. Очень уж легкий путь для журналиста...и переводы работ на другие языки - сегодня сомнительное достижение. Честность и мужество освещать реальность, неудобную для многих, - это основа журналистской профессии. В сравнении с погибшими из-за освещения войны с Украиной журналистами разных стран...избранный автором путь и тема - кривые и недостойные.

[Olga Horn · Rating 4 out of 5]

«Белая дама» – сильная и актуальная история. По сути она о вечном противостоянии добра и зла на примере шахтерского посёлка, расположенного недалеко от Донецка.

Мне нравится и идея рассказать эту историю из разных перспектив, и смесь реальности с мистикой, страшных исторических событий с мифами. Разноголосье удалось, объемная картина тоже. Не стоило, наверно, представлять некоторых героев как абсолютное зло, но при выбранном жанре придираться к этому пункту не хочется. Может, только мне хотелось и в зле увидеть человеческие черты. От этого оно бы стало ещё страшнее.

На мой вкус в романе много рассказано, а не показано, и много объяснений – без шанса для читателя допонять самому, а значит прочувствовать глубже.

Но в целом: важные темы (замалчивающееся прошлое, память места, война, повсеместная ложь), интересные мысли и параллели. Писать об актуальном, по горячим следам – непросто. Тут это получилось. И написано хорошо.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I write a few impressions I came away with after reading this book. A head laundress of a coal mine in Ukraine, her daughter Zhanna, a young man, Valet, who thinks of seducing Zhanna, one shaft of the mine where are buried bodies from several different wars and conflicts in that region, plus the bodies of Jews when the Nazis had conquered that region. A general, Korol [King] gives his life's story and the ghost of the dead engineer who built the mine in the first place gives his. The constant: War and violence. A strange atmospheric book.

[Daria Piskozub · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolutely disgraceful. No Russian has a right to write about the land they destroyed themselves.

And for the Western audience, who might pick this book up to read "a different POV": if your friend was r*ped, would you like to read the r*pist's POV of this traumatic experience? If you want to understand the tragedy of Donbas and other regions wracked by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, enable the authentic voices of the people who lived through these events. Enable UKRAINIAN voices. Don't be complicit to colonialism walking free in 21st century

[Apo]

De gebeurtenissen in het oosten van Oekraïne verteld en beleefd door de personages is een verrijkend inzicht.

puntig geschreven en goed vertaald. ( ook al heb ik niet ook het origineel gelezen).

De lage gemiddelde rating van dit boek komt doordat het gaat over Oekraine maar geschreven is door een Rus. Dat is terechte kritiek natuurlijk. Hoewel Lebedev volgens mij niet gezien kan worden als spreekbuis van de Russische staat. juist niet.

[Caitlin Barclay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This author/translation certainly takes you places. It requires an open minded experience. I am not familiar the majority of cultural references and geographic specific references, but it was hypnotic just the same. The gorgeous prose washed over me in waves. The tapestry of symbolism and cutthroat, unapologetic analysis on human violence and brutality really sticks in a way that will stay with me. It will be a book to revisit for me. Highly recommend.

[Alina Doktorova · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about how Russia is repeating patterns of violence and dehumanization similar to what totalitarian regimes like the Nazis or the Stalinist USSR enacted. It speaks to the parallels between Nazi occupation atrocities in Ukraine during WWII and Russia’s modern-day aggression in Ukraine — the moral blindness, and systemic violence.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

the author's background in geology, contemporary Ukraine events, WW2 history, and skilled storytelling combine for a compelling, page-turning read. like a well log, he layer's the stories from long-dead, recently killed and those yet to die. kind of weird, though entertaining and impressive.

[Lux · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book from a great modern Russian writer. Looks like the review here has been brigaded by Ukrainians. Fortunately this doesn't impact the writing here - it's beautiful, meditative and insightful. If you are interested in modern Russian writing, this is a great choice.

[Veronica Anrathi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Shameless imperialism, another russian ghoul trying to capitalize on Ukrainians. How dare you?

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lebedev has a beautiful command of language. He absolutely masters allegory and metaphor.

[Alan M]

DNF.

To be honest, real life in the news is way to depressing to make this a book I actually wanted to read.

Hence no rating.

[Sara'la · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book does not deserve the current less than 2 stars on GR.

Quite a dark read, but dynamically told.

[Alexandra König · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐ placeholder for the Russian version "Белая Дама"

[Bartek Zajdel · Rating 4 out of 5]

„Oni jeszcze tego nie rozumieją, ale przeistoczyli się w tych, których uważali za najgorszych wrogów, których pokonali i zniszczyli: w nazistów”. Taka jest dziś Rosja.
7.5

[Tijs van de Vijver · Rating 5 out of 5]

geologische poëzie

[Richard Derus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Real Rating: 4.25* of five

The Publisher Says: The mystical laundress at the center of this novel is obsessed with purity. Her task is formidable as she stands guard over a sealed shaft at a Ukrainian coal mine that hides terrible truths.

The bodies of dead Jews lying in its depths seem to attract still more present-day crimes. Acclaimed Russian author Sergei Lebedev portrays a ghostly realm riven by lust and fear just as the Kremlin invades the same part of Ukraine occupied by the Wehrmacht in World War Two.

Then corpses rain from the sky when a jet liner is shot down overhead, scattering luxury goods along with the mortal remains. Eerie coincidences and gruesome discoveries fill this riveting exploration of an uncanny place where the geography exudes violence, and where the sins of the past are never all that in the past.

Lebedev, who has won international praise for his soul-searching prose and unflinching examination of history’s evils, shines light on the fault line where Nazism met Soviet communism, evolving into the new fascism of today’s Russia.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: When someone sets out to write about how truly vilely humans treat, and think about, each other, they get...pushback. Unsurprisingly a man from Moscow known to support anti-Russian causes gets review-bombed for this bitterly anti-imperialist examination and take-down of the memory hole people put their dark collusions into on Goodreads. 82% of all the reviews are one-star Cyrillic alphabet ones. I don't speak or read Russian so I can't comment on what those reviewers say. The few among the one-starrers who wrote in English don't seem to me like real people based on their profiles, which fits.

I wish nothing but the best for Ukraine. This book is set there because it's the place most in the news; because it's clear the Russian Army is there to forcibly reintegrate Ukraine into whatever Little Vladdy Pu-Pu plans to call the new Soviet Union. The entire thrust in the guts of this book is aimed at imperialism and conquest, using the silently collusive's various ways of justifying their collusion against them, in service of the downtrodden. Simply not doing something active in support of evil is not enough to remain a decent human being. The mine in this story has no bottom, has no end, it never closes or runs out of its resource: Victims who were not saved by those who could have.

If you, cishet white person reading this, are feeling a wee bit uncomfortable about now, you should pay attention to that feeling. It's as fresh as the headlines: we're reading everywhere about disasters, and doing the "easy" to do; about how our nature as humans is to go along to get along, to survive, to be small targets. That will only gain force in the coming years as duck-and-cover feels safe, feels good.

There is no safe.
Stand up whatever way you can. Not doing so will not keep you safe. Ask those people in this novel's crashed airplane...they weren't safe.

I assume I don't need to explain the metaphors used by Lebedev, they're not very subtle. I hope I don't need to say "not getting this book and reading it isn't anything but denial of your humane duty." Listen to the people who know what they're talking about, like exiled writers; plan your resistance with their examples. Help them keep the message going, keep the help spreading.

Or sit and wait for it to happen to you. It will.

Not quite five stars for me, because as mentioned above the metaphors aren't terribly subtle. The story deserves your time and treasure.