Stalin’s Ghost, Mac Millan, 2007

Ceux qui connaissent déjà Arkadi Renko peuvent se réjouir! Quant aux autres, ils trouveront dans cette nouvelle aventure une porte d'entrée idéale pour pénétrer dans l'univers de l'enquêteur moscovite.

Après nous avoir promené quelque peu sous les tropiques ou au Japon, Martin Cruz Smith (Gorky Park, l'Etoile Polaire, Red Square, Chiens et Loups) semble revenir pour de bon dans la bonne vieille Russie natale de Renko. Alleluia ! Après le monde morbide de la zone interdite de Tchernobyl (Chiens et Loups), l'enquêteur paria de la crim' russe chez qui tout est usé sauf la conscience, est jeté dans un milieu qui n'est pas moins sordide : celui des extrêmistes nationalistes russes, en pleine renaissance.

Nostalgie stalinienne, misère humaine, frustrations et humiliations, violence, manipulation par quelques experts politologues étrangers, tous les ingrédients sont là pour planter un décor social, historique et politique complexe, qui ne tombe jamais dans le simplisme. L'intrigue, entre Moscou, Tver et les anciens champs de bataille du saillant de Rjevsk, repose sur une rigoureuse documentation. On est dans la Russie d'aujourd'hui et Martin Cruz Smith réussit remarquablement à faire évoluer son héros, toujours aussi tendre, mais chaque fois un peu plus sombre et désabusé.

About the author

Nadia Sikorsky

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.

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