Beyond the Birch Trees: Short Tales of Growing Up Soviet

by Vicka Kharitonova

Imagine living in a place where almost anything fun – books, films, parties, music – can only be obtained through secretive connections and with the risk of arrest or worse. This is the Soviet Union in its final decades, a nation creaking toward collapse.



It’s also where Vicka Kharitonova grew up. This is her story. Vicka is not a political rebel, just a strong-willed girl from a secular Jewish family, trying to create a life worth living in a dystopian country that science fiction can only imitate. Beyond the Birch Short Tales of Growing Up Sovie t chronicles Vicka’s search for adventure and romance, from childhood with loving parents to her departure for the United States as a young woman.

Written in 35 fast-paced vignettes, it takes readers from Moscow to distant Siberia to the rugged Tien Shan mountain ranges and Crimean vacation towns. It’s a portrait of a place and time that are now gone forever, a small story that nonetheless tells a larger tale of an individual against the state.

156 pages, Paperback

Published January 12, 2025

Reviews

[David Hailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found a friend, or at least a kindred spirit, in Vicka. She is, of course, braver and more adventurous, but the resonance of her emotional responses in various situations was something I felt deeply. This is more remarkable due to our coming of age at roughly the same time yet a hemisphere apart. I'm reminded that people are people even in Soviet Russia.
I was able to parcel out my reading to one vignette a day, and highly recommend this approach. Otherwise, your disappointment will likely be greater when there are no more stories to read. Thank you for the wonderful stories, Vicka.

[Alison Bender · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a treat to read! A series of vignettes that showcase life growing up in the Soviet Union, from childhood to adulthood (although it cracked me up that 25 is considered old to have babies there!). Well written, interesting and fascinating glimpse at an alternate world!

[Galen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection of short stories about growing up in the Soviet Union with many lessons of history, humanity, life, and love along the way.

[Joyce Adele · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you enjoy brief stories that transport you into the psyche of a young girl and a young woman, this is your book. It accomplishes this with aplomb, and each chapter is wrapped with a bow at the end. Vicka is an accomplished story-teller who coaches others in story-telling skills. Her ability to bring each story to a full circle ending is balanced against a writing style that makes you want to read the whole book in one sitting. But I advise you to temper that impulse, and savor each amazing story, or it'll all be over too quickly.

[Edward · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fascinating storyteller. What an amazing life she has led. These short stories will grab you and make want to read the next one…and the next one…and…you get the idea. She’s funny, she’s clever, and she knows how to write a story that puts you in the room with her. More please.