The journal helps her learn about the terrible things that Kolya witnessed in the war and the loss of the lady he was in love with. Through Uncle Kolya’s revelations and tragic love, Sasha gets a guide through drama school and more motivation to be an actress.Īt school, she explores her new world while still tied to the old world in some ways. It also narrates the years he spent in war and the harsh conditions he faced. The journal exposes the lies and truth about Stalin’s brutal ways. Her uncle was an artist, and no one seemed to have any information on where he was years after the World war. She also turns a deaf ear to her love, Andrei.īefore leaving the town, Sasha comes across a secret journal belonging to her uncle in the attic. At 17, she disobeys her parents when she leaves for Moscow by train to attend a drama audition. Sasha lives in a place filled with secrets, including her becoming an actress. To make matters worse, one of her close persons was taken away because of an unknown crime and never returned, forcing Sasha to wait hours in a food queue. Becoming an actress is good since one can pretend for some time which gives one a chance to get away from the real world.Īll the people around her have had their lives changed in one way or another by the political regime. As they grow up, their differences keep them together while also threatening to tear them apart. Each of them is experiencing the effects and trauma of Stalin’s war and harsh leadership. As the story begins, Sasha lives her childhood in a small provincial town.Īndrei and Marik are her childhood friends living in a Russian town after World War II. She got married at the age of 24 to an American and relocated to the United States to begin a new life, where she later decided to be a writer.Ī-Train to Moscow is a story of a young girl named Sasha in the 1950s -1960s when she dreamt of becoming an actress when she grew up. Petersburg, Russia, which was known as Leningrad during her time. Elena Gorokhova is a Russian author of Biographies, memoirs and history stories.

Elena gorokhova a train to moscow