The Kukotsky Enigma

The central character in Ludmila Ulitskayas celebrated novel The Kukotsky Enigma is a gynecologist contending with Stalins prohibition of abortions in 1936. But, in the tradition of Russias great family novels, the story encompasses the history of two families and unfolds in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and the ruins of ancient civilizations on the Black Sea. Their lives raise profound questions about family heritage and genetics, nurture and nature, and life and death. In his struggle to maintain his professional integrity and to keep his work from dividing his family, Kukotsky confronts the moral complexity of reproductive science. Winner of the 2001 Russian Booker Prize and the basis for a blockbuster television miniseries, The Kukotsky Enigma is an engrossing, searching novel by one of contemporary literatures most brilliant writers.