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A dazzling collection of fifteen stories from an author who revels in playing with form but never loses the heartbeat, whose writing “packs a powerful punch” (Tucson Weekly).
An apprentice dominatrix suddenly loses her grip, a spurned wife attempts to explain her husband’s flaws to his mother, a stripper turns the tables on a jeering customer . . .
Jana Martin’s smart, vulnerable heroines respond to life’s curveballs with guts and flair. In luminous prose she deftly plumbs the depths of their troubles—and shows the often startling ways in which they dig themselves out.
“There’s an elegant, flaring strength to Russian Lover, a precision of language that is daring and unique in the way it touches memory. Martin’s stories are always intriguing, they give life to the tired mind.” - Lydia Millet
“Jana Martin’s story collection is a force of contemporary nature.” - BUST Magazine
“Martin writes beautiful, jagged sentences and experiments with form . . . She reshapes well-worn topics of addiction and infidelity into fresh grooves, with strong-willed female characters proud of their appetites and desires, and stories that steer into glorious side trips.” - Toronto Star
“Tough, funny stories from a writer wise enough to know that wisdom doesn’t always come with experience. Russian Lover won’t teach you much about Russia, but it will give you some exhilaratingly painful portraits of people trying to love.” - Sam Lipsyte