In the late 1980s, as the winds of perestroika and glasnost transform everyday life, five children in Moscow’s Southwest District find themselves growing up amid the collapse of one world and the birth of another. Through their families, Danilova captures the texture of a time filled with uncertainty, discovery, and fragile hope. Number Twenty-Six is a story about awakening, memory, and resilience – a book for those who remember that era and for those who wish to understand it.
During the talk, we will explore how personal memory and historical truth intertwine in Danilova’s storytelling, and what it means to come of age when the world around you is shifting beyond recognition. We’ll discuss how small details – school corridors, queues, music lessons, family rituals – preserve a sense of belonging in the face of upheaval. The conversation will also touch on the meaning of freedom, both personal and collective, and how the echoes of the perestroika years continue to shape identity and imagination today.
The evening will include a reading from the novel, a conversation with the author, an opportunity for audience questions and a book signing.
Maria Danilova is a writer and journalist based in Washington, D.C. Born in Moscow, she grew up between Russia, France, and the United States, and spent 15 years covering Russia, Ukraine, and other former Soviet states for the Associated Press. Her long-form work has appeared in Harper’s Magazine, The Atlantic, Rest of World, Tablet Magazine, amongst other publications. Her exposé on the opioid crisis in Russia was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.
Danilova’s first book, the middle-grade novel Anya Here and There, was shortlisted for the Krapivin Literary Prize, longlisted for the Marshak Literary Prize, and earned her the title of Author of the Year from one of Russia’s best-known independent bookshops, Podpisniye Izdaniya. Her second novel, Number Twenty-Six, became a bestseller and is already in its fourth reprint six months after publication.
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