Europe through literature discussion

This thread is for the discussion / exchange of thoughts of our first Quarterly Classic 2024 which was first published in 1965 and depicts the life of a woman during the Great Purge in the late 1930s under Stalin.

There are different editions of this title available.
Among the English editions is the recent Persephone edition. The kindle edition which is based on the one by Northwestern University Press published in the 1960s, looks weird in the preview as it presents the text upside down ...
Anyway, I hope that everyone wanting to join our first Quarterly Classic will find their suitable copy (from the library at best :)) so that the exchange of thoughts can take place in this thread soon:).

My copy from Persephone Books arrived today and I will start reading on Monday (latest). I split the book in three parts and set up a discussion thread for each of the parts. The dates for every part are my personal reading schedule, i.e. those who want to join are invited to do so and those who choose to join in later are also invited to comment at a later date!