The 1998 winner of the Anti-Booker Prize, "Hurramabad" describes the bloody national strife and the eviction of Russians from Tajikistan following the collapse of the USSR. The title is the name of the mythical city of joy and happiness where there is always an abundance of fresh water and shade. When civil war erupts in Tajikistan, many Russians are reluctant to leave at first. But life there becomes unbearable for "foreigners", replaced by atrocity and death. This shifting world is the setting of Volos's powerful novel. He masterfully creates vivid pictures from street scenes, snatches of conversations at the bazaar, comments by wise old men and life stories of simple people, both Russians and Tajiks. "Volos narrows the perspective of his narrative to the emotional experience of a few eye-witnesses and so creates an extraordinarily vivid and multifaceted atmosphere. This is the city of "Hurramabad" shimmering in the heat, the hurly-burly of the bazaars, in little side...
