AustLit

'For the past five years Alison Giles has made an annual visit to Moscow, the city she dreamed of visiting when she was a young girl. A mysterious place that, up until the 90s, was difficult to enter: and exit for that matter.

'Alison captures the essence of a very modern city that is steeped in its history, its culture and its language. Visits to quirky restaurants, awe-inspiring museums, strolls along mediaeval streets with Russian friends and acquaintances who relate what life is like living in Putin's modern Russia. "Moscow is brutally ugly and exquisitely beautiful. A dichotomy of a human architecture that is outdated, crumbling and alienating alongside that which is gilded, overelaborate and breath-taking... "

'This is not a travel guide and Alison would encourage us to explore the city under our own steam and with our own interests, yet she does give a few tips for the wary traveller. Instead, it is a travel memoir which captures the sounds and sights, the textures and tastes of a city that continues to fascinate many.' (Publication summary)