A Woman Loved by Andrei Makine: book review

A Woman Loved (2013) is set in Saint Petersburg, Russia, from 1980 to 1995.

Oleg Erdmann is a young Russian filmmaker of German descent. He is a poor 26-year-old student living in a communal flat with fifteen other people. He is obsessed with Catherine the Great (1729-1796).

The novel is about Oleg’s attempt at writing a screenplay about Catherine the Great’s life. In doing so, there are many obstacles. Oleg’s girlfriend Lessya has read the first eleven pages of his screenplay and hates it. His fellow students tease him about the potential length of the film.

His university lecturer thinks Oleg’s film project is too ambitious – politically, financially, and historically. Catherine’s life has too many dramas – from German princess to Russian empress, her lovers, her desire to dominate, the coup d’etat, the murder of her husband Peter III, her rise to power, her son, her expeditions to foreign lands, too many biographical details – too many characters, too many walk-on parts. Too much detail won’t be good for the film, his teacher advises – and drop the horse! However, his teacher has some good advice: ‘try to fall in love with a present-day Catherine the Great.’

Oleg’s research and ambition is relentless, despite the criticism, including the pedantic comments from members of the State Committee for Cinematic Art. Nevertheless, Oleg moves from screenplay to production.

Has he fallen in love with a modern day Catherine? Is that even possible given his filmmaking obsession?

This is an interesting well-written way to introduce the history of Catherine the Great, the challenges in portraying true historical facts versus biographical fabrications, the pressure of other people’s expectations, and the obsession to portray Catherine’s ‘real’ character.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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