Boris Lensky

A newspaper turns a violinist's fame into a story of supernatural power, while two women in Paris argue over the truth behind his reputation. Miss Wilmot reads the account with enthusiasm. Nita von Sankjéwitch, an independent Austrian artist, suspects a publicity scheme, though her former governess remembers her earlier admiration for Boris Lensky. Their disagreement brings musical celebrity into the drawing room, where taste, memory and personal feeling shape what each woman believes.

Ossip Schubin's novel follows the private distress behind such assured conversation. Nita tries to comfort Mascha, whose grief resists explanation, and Nikolai returns to Paris with an inheritance to find his sister greatly changed. The people around Mascha try to explain her unhappiness through a presumed disappointment in love. For readers drawn to fiction about artists and their social circles, this novel explores the gap between public fascination and the difficulty of understanding someone close at hand.