Bouleversé par la lecture du journal intime d'une certaine Nastia, née à Saint-Pétersbourg à la fin du xixe siècle, Luc Verdon décide de partir pour la « Venise du Nord », sur les traces de cette femme fascinante disparue mystérieusement. Là-bas, avec l'aide de Léonora, une jeune interprète russe, il va tâcher de reconstituer le puzzle de cette existence mouvementée et tragique.
A travers le roman croisé de Luc et Nastia, c'est toute l'histoire de la Russie du xxe siècle que l'auteur nous invite à revisiter : des derniers feux du régimetsariste à la Pétersbourg d'aujourd'hui, en passant par l'extraordinaire efflorescence artistique et littéraire de l'« Age d'argent », les expérimentations futuristes des années 20, l'émigration massive des Russes blancs à Paris et - épisode méconnu de l'histoire soviétique - le retour effroyable de certains d'entre eux en URSS, aux heures les plus sombres du stalinisme.
Fresque vibrante de bruit et de fureur où l'on croise Raspoutine, Diaghilev, Chagall, Maïakovski, Elsa Triolet, Coco Chanel et tant d'autres... La Tour Ivanov est aussi un roman d'amour et d'initiation, imprégné de la mélancolie, de la poésie et de la folie slave.
Lyane Guillaume : La Tour Ivanov, Éditions JCLattès, 2000
About the author
Nadia Sikorsky grew up in Moscow where she obtained a master's degree in journalism and a doctorate in history from Moscow State University. After 13 years at UNESCO, in Paris and then in Geneva, and having served as director of communications at Green Cross International founded by Mikhail Gorbachev, she developed NashaGazeta.ch, the first online Russian-language daily newspaper, launched in 2007.
In 2022, she found herself among those who, according to Le Temps editorial board, "significantly contributed to the success of French-speaking Switzerland," thus appearing among opinion makers and economic, political, scientific and cultural leaders: the Forum of 100.
After 18 years leading NashaGazeta.ch, Nadia Sikorsky decided to return to her roots and focus on what truly fascinates her: culture in all its diversity. This decision took the form of this trilingual cultural blog (Russian, English, French) born in the heart of Europe – in Switzerland, her adopted country, the country distinguished by its multiculturalism and multilingualism.
Nadia Sikorsky does not present herself as a "Russian voice," but as the voice of a European of Russian origin (more than 35 years in Europe, 25 years spent in Switzerland) with the benefit of more than 30 years of professional experience in the cultural world at the international level. She positions herself as a cultural mediator between Russian and European traditions; the title of the blog, "The Russian Accent," captures this essence – the accent being not a linguistic barrier, not a political position but a distinctive cultural imprint in the European context.
