With My Dogs in Russia

I must admit I bought this book (second hand, like the vast majority of my books) on a bit of a whim - I bought it mainly for the just jacket imagery of the dogs ( they are the breed borzoi also known as Russian Hunting Sighthounds), and the fact it was a biography of a German couple stuck in Russia. The exact dates are not explained, but by checking events that occur it seems from 1934 (and covers a period of 12 years).

The outline of events is - escaping Germany (Her husband was a writer, and critic of the regime), and living in Sweden as refugees, the authors husband was invited to Russia to attend the International Writers Congress.

From Page 14

“The Writers' Congress was over... But we had no country to go home to. Hitler had deprived us of our citizenship and our passports had expired, so we were invited to stay on for a time in the Soviet Union, and after some brief hesitation we thoughtlessly agreed. We knew only the glossy facade, we knew nothing about the daily life. But we assured each other that, when we wanted to go, we should somehow find a way. As things turned out, it took us twelve years.”