The Russian Testament - Shumona Sinha
Shumona Sinha
- Pages · n/a
- Publication Date · 17/09/2026
- Genre · Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)
Tania is a young Bengali living in Calcutta in the 1980s. Hated by her mother and shunned by her peers, she seeks solace within the pages of Russian books she reads in her mother tongue, Bengali. In a bookshop, she stumbles upon a Russian book published in the USSR in the 1920s by Raduga, a once-prestigious publishing house that was closed in 1930 on Lenin's orders. Intrigued by the mysterious publisher behind the book, Tania perseveres through numerous frustrating detours until she finally tracks down Adel, the publisher's octogenarian daughter residing in a St. Petersburg nursing home, and corresponds with her. Through this connection, she ultimately uncovers the tumultuous destiny of Raduga's founder, a Jewish journalist named Lev Moisevitch Kliatchko, who narrowly escaped execution under Stalin thanks to the intervention of Maxim Gorky and who died in 1933 from tuberculosis, shortly before the Moscow Trials.
Only at Gulp Fiction
Book Lovers' Happy Hour
An hour and a half at the bar, with three cocktails matched to your taste and three books chosen for you. Tell us what you like when you book, and we'll have them waiting when you arrive.
- 1½ hours
- £60 per person
- 3 cocktails, 3 books
Up to four of you can come — book a place each and choose the same time slot, then tell us who you're with. For larger groups, email gulpfictionbooks@gmail.com and we'll arrange it.
Collect in store
Order online and pick it up from the shop. It's free, and usually quicker than the post.
Find us
Units 28–29, Covered Market, Oxford OX1 3DU. Mon–Wed 10–5, Thu–Sat 10–10, Sun 11–4.
Book a table
The bar is open late Thursday to Saturday. Reserve a table for a drink among the books.