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Anna, a young Swiss beauty, and Boris, a Russian refugee twice her age, become captivated with each other after a brief first encounter. Over Anna’s parents’ objections and despite strict travel restrictions imposed on foreigners by the Swiss authorities, their love survives and deepens through an extensive correspondence lasting nearly two years. Both haunted by pasts they are determined to overcome, Anna and Boris explore the nature of their love, debate their plans for the future, and contend with the thorny differences that threaten to pull them apart.
These extraordinary love letters are much more than mere expressions of affection. They cover a world of subjects—art, music, literature, philosophy, religion, ethics, politics—and even how to lose weight. Anything is up for discussion between Boris and Anna if it relates to their development as a couple or as independent human beings. This book offers a detailed portrait of two disparate, fascinating individuals during a volatile time in their lives, a period that coincides with the last months of World War II and the beginning of reconstruction in Europe.
Translated and edited by Boris and Anna’s daughter Vera Kochanowsky, this volume includes extensive explanatory material, photographs, and a moving afterword, “Grandmother’s Gift.”