Olga Gromova, "Sugar Child": summary, main characters, theme

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The novel "Sugar Child", a summary of which is given in this article, is a work of the writer Gromova. In fact, this is a non-fiction book written from the words of a real character, a little girl, Stella. Her childhood fell on hard times in the Soviet Union - 30-40s. The book, written in early 2010, immediately became a bestseller, winning the love of readers and the respect of literary critics.

A novel about a girl

"Sugar baby", the summary of which allows you to understand what the essence of the work is, this is a very sincere novel. Readers admit that he takes the soul and fascinates from the very first pages. In the center of the story is little Elya. She grows up in a strong family where love and respect for each other reign. The happy idyll collapses at one point, when it turns out that her father was recognized as an "enemy of the people." What it is, she still does not fully understand. But her life is changing dramatically. Quiet family evenings are being replaced by worries, daily stress.

Elya finds herself in a terrible, unpleasant world for her, where everyone is not happy with her. fatherarrest. He is taken away from home, nothing is known about his further fate. All attempts by the girl's mother to break through the bureaucratic wall end in almost nothing. "Enemy of the people" is in the dungeons of the NKVD.

Elya and her mother are also mistreated. They are sent to a camp for family members of traitors to the Motherland. There is even a special unpleasant abbreviation for them - CHSIR. Socially dangerous elements (ESR) are also brought here.

The camp is located away from their home - in Kyrgyzstan. An unfamiliar and difficult climate, the severity of the move, difficult conditions of detention. All this negatively affects the condition of the girl.

Teen Romance

Despite all the trials that fall to their lot, Elya and her mother do not despair, do not lose heart. Olga Gromova writes a classic teenage novel in which she shows how a parent, even in critical circumstances, must and can help a child endure the most terrible moments in life.

Eli's mom always jokes, sings songs, reads poems to her daughter. They try their best to take care of each other. They will face illness and hunger, but nothing will make them part. "Sugar Child", the main characters of which literally have to survive in the circumstances, is also a novel of education. A very fascinating book about true love, as well as what inner freedom and human dignity are. Freedom, which can be in every person even during the years of repression, is most accurately defined by Eli's mother. According to her, slaveryit's just a state of mind. If a person is internally free, then it is impossible to make him a slave.

The novel "Sugar Child", a summary of which is in this article, was awarded prizes and awards. In particular, the book entered the long list of the prestigious literary award "Kniguru", received a diploma of the award named after the famous science fiction writer Krapivin.

Summary of the novel

Next, we will try to dwell on the plot of the work in more detail in order to better understand the ideas that the author laid down. Almost everyone will find something of their own in "Sugar Baby". The synopsis is a great proof of this.

At the center of the story is a mother who suffered from bone tuberculosis and became disabled because of this, and her 6-year-old daughter. Because of the arrest of the head of the family, they simply find themselves in inhuman conditions in a camp for elements undesirable in Soviet society. But even here they do not despair, trying in every possible way to cheer each other up, most of all they are afraid not for themselves, but for the fact that they can hurt a loved one.

The inner world they created resists the outer horror. Only he helps them survive. At times, the author Olga Gromova describes simply terrible episodes. Little Ela is smashed in the nose with the butt of a rifle because she wanted to pick a tulip in a flower bed. But even this does not allow the heroes to harden and give up.

Life after camp

Further Gromova in "Sugar Baby" describes the life of the characters aftercamps. True, they are not allowed to return to their hometown, but are sent to distant Kyrgyz villages. Here they meet good and kind people who are sympathetic to the situation in which the mother and daughter find themselves.

The settled Kyrgyz live here, dispossessed Ukrainian families. Everyone respects the Kyrgyz culture and language, which makes the locals even more attracted to them.

The meaning of the title of the novel

In this part of the novel, we will learn the meaning of its title. The Kirghiz begin to call Elya "kant bala", which means "sugar child" in their language. The analysis of this work is best based on its brightest chapter - "The Great Reading".

It tells how almost every evening all the exiles, including Russians, Ukrainians, as well as local residents, get together in one of the barracks. They tell each other stories about their lives, retell famous works related to their culture, read poems, stories and novels. For example, Gogol and Pushkin. And often translated into Kyrgyz.

These evenings, reading at the same table, unite everyone living in this village, in difficult, sometimes simply unbearable conditions.

The novel describes 10 years, and all subsequent events in the life of the main characters are summarized in the epilogue.

Who is this book for?

"Sugar Baby" is a book for families to read on quiet evenings. A great opportunityestablish an internal dialogue in the family, tell children about the unpleasant and terrible pages of the country's history, which nevertheless must not be forgotten.

In addition, this is a wonderful novel that can demonstrate to all modern people how it is necessary to remain human and not lose their dignity, even in the most difficult conditions. Those who were not lucky enough to fall into the millstones of history manage to maintain faith in good people, as well as love for their land and their homeland.

In fact, this is an eternal plot based on new material for children's national literature. This is the story of a girl from the last century, which is also brilliantly illustrated by the artist Maria Pasternak. Throughout her work, she was in close contact with the author. Therefore, she managed to portray everything as close as possible to how the writer imagined it when she created her work.

Writer Gromova

The author of the novel "Sugar Child", the theme of which can be defined as love for loved ones and the preservation of human dignity, in ordinary life works as the editor-in-chief of the "Library at School" magazine. Therefore, she knows very well what works of children's literature are faced today by students, what modern children's literature appears on store shelves and bookshelves in libraries.

At the same time, to create such a work, she needed a certain courage. After all, the topic of Stalin's prohibitions had practically never been raised on the pages ofworks of children's literature, it was secretly tabooed.

A parenting novel

At the same time, Gromova's book continues the Russian and Soviet tradition of upbringing novels. They must be present in the home library of every teenager. After all, such books allow you to understand internal problems, learn the details of the history of your country, even if not the most pleasant ones, and realize the basic moral rules that you should adhere to all your life.

Previously such must-read works were Dostoyevsky's "Netochka Nezvanova", Leo Tolstoy's trilogy about growing up, novels by Kataev and Oseeva. Today they are being replaced by books by contemporary authors. "Sugar Baby" is one of the best examples of reading for today's new generation.

Prototypes of the main characters

Another advantage of this novel is that everything that is said in the pages of "Sugar Baby" is not fiction. The book is biographical. It is based on the memoirs of Stella Nudolskaya. It is she who is the prototype of the main character - the girl Eli.

As the author ironically notes on the pages of the novel, her parents were indeed socially dangerous elements. At least, this is how the facts from the biography that Eli's parents had were often evaluated at that time. Both Stella's mom and dad had a higher education, spoke several foreign languages at once, in their free time they painted, played musical instruments. They had an enviable pedigree. Eli's grandfather is a pillar nobleman whoworked at the Tula Arms Plant.

Thus, it turns out that this book is the only one that tells about Stalin's repressions and is addressed to children.

Nudolskaya, who became the prototype for this novel, also wrote her own documentary biography. It was called "Don't let yourself be afraid." However, for a children's work, such a name, of course, was not suitable. Therefore, it was decided to call the novel "Sugar Baby".

For Gromovaya, the publication of this book was a matter of principle. She promised to do this to her friend Nudolskaya, who died long before this work was published.

Gromova's acquaintance with Nudolskaya

Gromova met Nudolskaya when they were neighbors in a communal apartment back in the Soviet Union. The writer describes the woman who became the prototype for her future work as a lonely but strong person. When they met, Nudolskaya lived alone. Her husband died, and her son worked far from Moscow. Despite all the everyday and life difficulties, she found the strength to lead an active lifestyle. She read a lot, specially went to the club of veterans, where she introduced the old people to literary novelties. She created a group for young mothers, in which she taught everyone how to sew and embroider.

Gromova in her memoirs describes a talkative woman with a sharp mind and a delicate sense of humor. She constantly told her about her life in Central Asia, her work on the Chukotka Peninsula, about the schools near Moscow where she studied after the war, whenshe and her mother were finally allowed to return from Kyrgyzstan. In her stories, Nudolskaya very accurately and in detail described the characters, the situations she encountered in life, and the world around her.

Day of Political Prisoners

It was from Nudolskaya that Gromova learned that every year on October 30 the day of political prisoners is celebrated in the Soviet Union. At that time, this topic itself was banned. The new friend of the writer was just one of those who suffered from political repression.

However, freer times are coming soon. Perestroika began, and Gromova and Nudolskaya began to process these memories and publish them in the form of essays in newspapers and magazines.

Soon her son returned from the North. He was terminally ill and could not work the way he used to. The main goal of Nudolskaya's life was to take care of him, visit hospitals and clinics, it was necessary to obtain the necessary medicines.

She did not break even at that moment, she became a model of resilience and vitality. Both for Gromova herself and for her readers. Because the image of the heroine is recreated in the novel in a very realistic way.