ANDREÏ MAKINE, a member of the French Academy and a famous writer of Russian origin, presented his new novel Prisonnier du rêve écarlate in Russian House Brussels-Europe
At the meeting with the famous writer, various questions were discussed – from the literary tradition in which the novel was created, and its links with Russian and French culture, to the historical background of the events described in the book.
The book published in 2025 by Les Editions Grasset, traces half a century of history between the Soviet Union and France through the intense life story of Lucien Baer, a young French communist.
Arriving in Moscow in 1939 to discover a paradise on earth, he encounters a starkly different reality from his “crimson dreams”—the brutality of Stalin’s regime and the horrors of war. Yet, he also finds kindred spirits and the love of a woman, Darya, with whom he could rebuild their shattered lives.
Almost three decades later, Lucien manages to cross the “Iron Curtain” in an attempt to find his loved ones. However, this returnee from the distant north no longer recognizes his homeland. How could he settle into the comfort of a “society of happy stomachs” and take the 1968 revolution seriously? Will he have to renounce himself, erasing his past? Or will he attempt an unthinkable return to the past to reclaim his dream of brotherhood and lost love?
A powerful work about the brutal Stalinist era and the rejection of Western hypocrisy, which at the same time expresses faith in humanity.
ANDREÏ MAKINE
Born in 1957 in Krasnoyarsk, he is the author of numerous works that have been translated worldwide and have received several awards.
The Prix Goncourt and the Prix Médicis for the novel The French Testament
The Grand Prix RTL-Lire for the novel The Music of a Life
The Prince Pierre of Monaco Prize for his entire body of work
The Casanova Prize for the novel A Woman Loved
Recent works by Andreï Makine published by Grasset:
The Armenian Friend (recipient of the Women Novelists’ Prize), presented in the Russian House in October 2022
The Old Calendar of Love
In Brussels, A. Makin’s new novel Prisonnier du rêve écarlate is available at Filigranes bookshops
