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Alexandra Kryuchkova

Contents

A GUARDIAN ANGEL

A novel from “Playing Another Reality” series

ABOUT the BOOK

T. Troubnikova, “Guardian Angels do exist!”

“A Guardian Angel” by Alexandra Kryuchkova, winner of the awards: “Wings of the 21^st Century” of Oscar Wilde (Moscow City Organization of the Union of Writers of Russia, Literary Republic, 2021), “Silver Angel” of Françoise Sagan (Open Literary Club “Response”, 2015), and “Literary Olympus” (League of the Writers of Eurasia, 2014), is a very unusual, stunningly deep and naked novel-revelation, based on real events.

From the first lines you think of Paulo Coelho and Bernard Werber, but reading on, it reminds you of Carlos Castaneda and the dream hackers, and somewhere, of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Vadim Zeland. The real facts of the unique destiny of the writer are so closely interconnected and harmoniously interwoven with Another Reality and the Worlds of Mist and Dreams, as well as their representatives, guardian angels and ghosts, that space-time borders are erased completely and irrevocably, and all the events are wholly and completely perceived by the reader as one and indivisible whole – the only-possible and truly real one.

In the non-linear and non-trivial storyline – about love, of course! – including time pigtails and dizzying, roller-coaster-like journeys in the Space of Options, because the Future is not predetermined and hence can be rewritten, the music of refrains is playing – meetings, feelings, visions and dreams repeat recreating the spiral of existence and lulling the mind, making ripples in the water. But a charade plot with a taste of detective really keeps the readers in suspense till the last, and all their versions fall away as they approach the denouement, and it seems impossible to connect the disparate links into a single chain of events, which leads the main character Alice to her own death in Venice, the puzzle won’t be put together! But… “it only seems that way”!

Venice, the mystical city to which, according to the Italians, a trip together with the loved one threatens eternal separation, appears in the novel as a sinister black city, mourning ghosts. The description of the cardboard Moon in the sky and its cardboard reflection in the cardboard (!) water make a strong impression – like plunging into madness at the moment when, experiencing the main character’s feelings, you become aware of shifting edges in your own head.

However, despite the drama of the events, the writer managed to describe the dark side of her life quite easily and in some moments even ironically and to look at herself from the outside – through the eyes of her Guardian Angel, joking about herself, which is typical of a wise and bright person who has gone through fire, water and cooper pipes, but not embittered by the world.

“Everyone has their own Devil”, but the worst thing is to lose oneself. Wandering in the World of Mist, Alice has to visit the Library of the Universe, get to the right pages in the Tablets of Astral Light, enter the House of Life and find the reason in the Labyrinth of Subconscious for what is happening to rewrite the script.

Unlike other novels by A. Kryuchkova, “A Guardian Angel” is written in Russian in the spirit of script – in the Present Tense, perhaps as a subtle hint to the reader that it’s important to live here and now rather than dwell on the Past and the Future. The prose includes also poems by Kryuchkova, as delightful illustrations, bright flashes of accents like the red poppies on the white dress of the protagonist, who won “The King of Poets” competition (Union of Writers of Russia, 2013) and the imperial “Heritage” competition (Russian Imperial House & RSP, 2014).

The positioning of Alice as a poet is also curious. Referring to the three masters of the Silver Age poets – A. Blok, M. Tsvetaeva and A. Akhmatova – who are inhabitants of the Library of the Universe and characters of the novel, Alice doesn’t compare herself to them, but asks for help and receives it in critical situations. Thus, she comes to Marina Tsvetaeva in Elabuga before a serious surgery, and before the car accident on Anna Akhmatova’s birthday she rereads a volume of poems by Alexander Blok, her favorite book in childhood.

As Sergey Yesenin said, nothing worthwhile can be achieved without a message to Death, and he was right! Alice is not afraid to look into the eyes of her own death, moreover, she looks even through it, and not just believing in the posthumous existence, but exploring it in borderline states. At the same time, Alice has a panicked fear of… life! – Yes, there he is, her Man in Black, known by Esenin, Pushkin and Mozart. Thus, the mysterious death of the protagonist in Venice appears in a completely different light: it’s not the Man in Black who kills Alice, but her own fear of the Future, since it can cause pain.

And here the phrase “we all come from childhood” is confirmed by the writer 100%: in search of strength to overcome the fear of the Future, the wandering soul of Alice the adult, first of all returns to her tragic Past, reliving its most dramatic fragments and turning to Alice the child, to support herself in a hard moment. And this diving headlong down to the bottom of the ocean of Subconscious with memories of the burnt-out house and early dead parents, with conversations with her mother in reality and in dreams is scary and poignant, touching to the point of tears.

In the beginning of the novel, we clearly hear the voices of the invisible Guardians of people – the Angels who agree with each other to help their wards make the right step in one direction or another. However, chapter by chapter, their speech becomes weaker and weaker, giving way to the power of the human Spirit. And finally, on the background of exciting ordinary and completely unbelievable events, the most important actor appears, that’s Divine Love, reaching its climax in the finale: at the last second of a terrible car crash Alice is given the right to choose… But should she return from Another World to become a Guardian of the man who betrayed her and because of whom she wished to die in that crash?

Like all novels by A. Kryuchkova, “A Guardian Angel” is worthy of a luxury movie! Well, a sequel to the story follows! “Confession of a Ghost”, a new philosophical-mystical novel in the “Playing Another Reality” series, has already been awarded the prizes of D.L. Andreev “Creator of Worlds” (Open Literary Club “Response”, 2019) and F. M. Dostoevsky “Life suffocates without purpose” (Union of Writers of Russia, 2021). I sincerely join in congratulations to the writer and look forward to read her next novels!

Tatiana Troubnikova,

writer and screenwriter,

member of the Union of Writers of Russia

“Literary News” No. 11–12 (197–198), November-December 2021

B. Mikhin, “Angels and stars. Marina Tzvetaeva, Evgeny Rein and Alexandra Kryuchkova”

The novel “A Guardian Angel” by Alexandra Kryuchkova is a multifaceted work in which everyone will see something different. For me personally, it’s not just an unusual novel about the search for earthly love and the passions of a love triangle with a detective flare, astrological handwriting and charming self-irony of the writer. By the way, as Peter Guldedava, the honored writer of the Union of Writers of Russia, remarked in a review (hereafter I quote the preface to the previous edition of the novel in “RIPOL Classic”, 2015), “For my taste, there’s too little earthly. By extolling the idealized image of the beloved half-ghost, the protagonist seems to emphasize her own inaccessibility, while the average reader aims for the accessible.”

Celestial aftertaste from reading the novel was also left by the Orthodox writer-publicist Inna Butorina, “A real diary of an angel! An exclusive rarity, fragile jewel. A breath of pure spring water for each wayfarer exhausted by life. A book you will remember forever…”

“A Guardian Angel” for me is not even so much a fascinating and enlightening “Playing Another Reality” (as the title of the series suggests), due to which the reader certainly penetrates the Subtle Spheres, including the worlds of angels, ghosts and dreams, to overcome their own fears and complexes and rewrite a multi-variant Future, what is legitimately admired by Irina Lejava, a science fiction writer, “By no means a trivial plot! Beyond the love triangle there is the abyss of Subconscious, the world of Dreams, the Valley of Mist, the endless halls of the Library of the Universe, the pages of Astral Tablets, the rustling wings of ironic Guardians and the cosmic Soul of the writer, whose mission on Earth is to bring Light to people!”

For me, “A Guardian Angel” by A. Kryuchkova, on the one hand, is a splendid novel about a lady with strong Spirit (obviously not the iron lady), who is balancing, like a circus performer, on a thin thread, stretched over the abyss of Non-existence, and dancing with Death. Death either retreats, taking a step back, or pounces on Alice suffocating her in its passionate embrace. This novel is about the struggle with Death in its different guises, not even of a particular person, but of Life itself.

Almost the same was said by the writer Elena Gramenitskaya, “The power of Love of the main character, mesmerized by Death, but insanely eager to live, is able to destroy and revive worlds, it creates a powerful vortex flow, which takes your breath away! I missed my underground stop, reading the novel, having completely fallen into Another Reality.”

And for me, reading Kryuchkova’s books is like meditating. Both Alexandra’s poetry and her prose – no less poetic! – have an inexplicable magic effect, as noted in the reviews by Elena Tallenika (“The Island of Charon”), by Konstantin Bely (“A Trap for a Thought-Form”), by Peter Guldedava (“The Moon Cat” and “A Guardian Angel”). This magic, quite unobtrusively, but persistently and powerfully influences the reader, making him think not only about mortal things, while every novel by Kryuchkova is a discovery, a clear non-standard, a break of the patterns, a puzzle, a charade, something unusual.

I agree with Vadim Shiltsyn, writer and critic, “Kryuchkova’s prose is as unique as a fingerprint. A rare combination of writing talent and esoteric knowledge. The easiest way is to compare her ‘Guardian’ to Bernard Werber and Paulo Coelho, but Kryuchkova has such a vivid sense of this world that the works of Werber and Coelho cannot even compete with her Another Reality. ‘A Guardian Angel’ is a fascinating reading and a fine script for a stunning film to win at the Venice Film Festival!”

On the other hand, “A Guardian Angel” represents a cross-section of an entire decade, our literary history with the star names of the era, that emerges before the reader’s eyes, since the writer describes real events taking place in the literary circles of the early 21^st century. The reader takes part in the Tsvetaeva’s bonfire in Elabuga, wanders through book exhibitions in Paris and London, goes to the seminars of Eugene Rein and Viktor Erofeev at the Booker Laureates’ School in Milan, travels to Venice to the grave of Joseph Brodsky, visits the 3^rd International Poetry Festival in Hungary, oversees preparations for and holding “The King of Poets” tournament in the Central House of Writers in Moscow, acquaints with the imperial “Heritage” and plans a trip to the festival “I Love This World!” in Bulgaria.

In my opinion, it’s interesting, because, first of all, these events are not ordinary, but significant for their time, and second, the writer was directly involved in them, so the reader has the opportunity to plunge into the real literary environment and touch the celebrity personalities, which is much nicer than reading dry information from encyclopedic reference books.

What about the writer? What is her role in the events described?

Since 2001 Alexandra Kryuchkova has actively participated in literary events in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and her first performance abroad was on 11 April 2010 at the invitation of Carte Blanche Czech Republic, with pianist Philippe Subbotin, Director of the Gradus ad Parnassum music school at the Russian Center for Science and Culture in Prague (Czech Republic). It was a three-hour musical and poetic concert at the St. Mary’s Church in Prague (Kostel Panny Marie Snezne) with a video broadcast on Russian television in Prague.

In September 2011, thanks to the Union of Writers of the 21^st Century and its President Evgeny Stepanov, Alexandra Kryuchkova represented Russia at the 3^rd International Poetry Festival in Hungary, organized with the support of the international cultural and creative foundation E.O.S., headed by poet and translator Aron Gaal. After performances in Budapest, Szentendre and Isáseg, she was announced as the winner of the Festival and had her book translated into Hungarian in Budapest published free of charge. Her name was engraved on a memorial stone in the Park of Stars on the Walk of Fame. She was awarded the Order of G.R. Derzhavin by the Union of Writers of Russia. After the publication of her book “Ez a – Szerelem!” (“This is Love!”), a selection of poems translated into Hungarian by A. Gaal, Alexandra was awarded the international Hungarian prize “New Pleiades” 2012 for her merits in the field of literature.

Later Kryuchkova, as a poet and writer, represented Russia as part of the delegation of the Union of Writers of Russia at the book fair in Paris (2012), where indeed, as in the novel, she spoke with the French Minister of Culture. The she was a speaker at the conference “The New Russian Revolution in Literature” organized by Edizioni Spirali Italian Publishers in Milan (2012); held master classes at the Literary Festival in Varna (Bulgary) and read poetry at the Union of Bulgarian Writers, where she met the legendary Bulgarian poet and translator Elka Nyagolova, who had translated Kryuchkova’s poetry into Bulgarian. Alexandra performed at the book fair in London (2013) and led a literary tour in Italy (2014) as the head of the delegation of writers and poets. She was the initiator of the international projects of the Moscow State Organization of the Union of Writers of Russia such as Russia-Czech Republic, Russia-Germany, Russia-Hungary, Russia-Spain, Russia-Italy, Russia-Greece. Each of her foreign performances and international projects were awarded diplomas of the Moscow State Organization of the Union of Writers of Russia, and her works were partially translated into English, German, Italian, Bulgarian and Hungarian. The book “Without a Mask” mentioned in the novel was indeed published in Germany by Stella-Verlag publishing house.

Alexandra Kryuchkova is a three-time winner of the League of Writers of Eurasia “Literary Olympus” in the prose category, including the novel “A Guardian Angel” (2014), but a special role in her creative destiny was played by poets Evgeny Borisovich Rein and Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva. It’s no coincidence that in her acknowledgements, she mentions E. B. Rein first. The novel is also dedicated to A. Akhmatova and A. Blok. At the same time, E.B. Rein is a real character of the novel, while Tsvetaeva, Akhmatova and Blok help the main character from a parallel world by meeting her in the Library of the Universe.

Alexandra intersects with E.B. Rein three times both in life and in the novel. In March 2012, she attended a course of his poetry seminars at the Booker Laureates’ School in Milan (Italy), and was announced the winner (she was awarded a diploma, the Order of S.A. Yesenin “Golden Autumn” and a publication of her poetry book by the Union of Writers of Russia). Together with a group of seminarians, they travelled to Venice to visit the places of Joseph Brodsky. In autumn 2012, Alexandra performed on TV channel “Culture” (“Aloud. Poems about Myself. How to rise above graphomania?” program), with Alexander Kushner and Evgeny Rein on the jury. Kryuchkova was declared the winner of the program. In April 2013, she took another poetry course of E. B. Rein at the Union of Writers of Russia and received a diploma.

A book of her poems with the provocative title “Marina. Anna. Alexandra”, repeatedly mentioned in the novel and submitted simultaneously with the book “A Scream to the Unanswered” to the judgment of E.B. Rein, was published by “RIPOL Classic” in 2009. It would seem logical to assume that the link between Rein and Kryuchkova is Anna Akhmatova (Rein knew Akhmatova well and is traditionally, along with Brodsky, considered a pupil of Akhmatova), and in the novel (as in real life) the main character Alice is involved in a fatal car crash on Akhamatova’s birthday. However, in a difficult moment of life and on her own birthday Alice (as the writer) goes to Elabuga, and Marina Tsvetaeva, unlike Anna Akhmatova, appears in almost all novels by Kryuchkova.

The protagonist of “A Guardian Angel” tells us a lot of nuances that make her similar to Marina, and in the next novel, “Confession of a Ghost”, periodically repeats the phrase, “I am not Akhmatova”. It’s significant, in my opinion, that despite a lot of opportunities, Kryuchkova has never taken part in Akhmatova’s competitions, but she did win in “The Gallery of Selected Poetry” in the nomination of M. Tsvetaeva “Women’s Cosmos” for the poem “1m and 58 sm” (October 2010), and in the competition “Tsvetaeva’s Bonfire” 2013 (getting the first place with the award of a statuette “M. Tsvetaeva” and a certificate for a free book publishing). On several occasions, Alexandra read poetry and hosted literary evenings at the House Museum of M. Tsvetaeva in Borisoglebsky Lane in Moscow, and with the literary foundation “Svetoch” performed at the School-Gymnasium V.P. von Dervis, where M. Tsvetaeva had studied.

Kryuchkova visited Elabuga three times, two trips are described in “A Guardian Angel”. By decision of the management of Elabuga State Museum-Reserve of M. Tsvetaeva (EGMZ), she received the right to light the 11^th Tsvetaeva’s Bonfire in Elabuga on October 5, 2013 and open poetry readings. Her speech and interview for regional TV was widely covered by the mass media (“Tatmedia”, “New Kama”, “Evening of Elabuga”, “Elabuga without format”, “Common Literary Newspaper” and others). In October 2020, Alexandra came to Tsvetaeva’s Bonfire for the second time as the head of the delegation of the Moscow State Organization of the Union of Writers of Russia. She got a diploma signed by the director of the EGMZ and the chairman of the Union of Writers for participation in the Tsvetaeva’ Bonfire and awarded the medal “Tsvetaeva’s Bonfires”.

“A Guardian Angel” includes Kryuchkova’s poems as illustrations, adding the final touch to her portrait: yes, she is a master! As the winner of “The King of Poets” tournament (the Union of Writers of Russia, 2013), she appeared in Dmitry Silkan’s Literary Lounge and Natalia Osipova’s Cultural Layer program on the “Russian World” radio and TV. In 2014, “RIPOL Classic” published her book of poems, “The Queen of Poets”, and then Alexandra, one of the few to be awarded the Order of the Holy Great Martyr Anastasia by the Russian Imperial House of Romanovs for the contribution to Russian culture, became a winner of “Heritage” national literary award. Thus, the last page of “A Guardian Angel” is flooded with spotlight from the “Heritage” Award ceremony in the Great Hall of the Central House of Writers.

As Nadezhda Schlesiger, a writer and a fan of Marina Tsvetaeva, wrote about “A Guardian Angel”, “Kryuchkova is walking on the edge of genius. Her poems sprout in your soul, striking you with sincerity and depth of thought. Her prose surprises both in form and content, and, of course, the Power of the Spirit. Her Another Reality is the truth of life suffered out…”

However, I’d like to conclude my review about “A Guardian Angel” with the words of Peter Guldedava, the head of the “Fresh Look” literary association, already quoted at the beginning, who, despite his reproach for the excessive heavenliness of the protagonist, continues his review as follows, “But it is in the pure spirituality that the power of the impact of Kryuchkova’s works, the key of her creativity at a high level, is revealed. Whatever she talks about, every word is a word of love, faith and hope, radiating magic charm of talent and beauty. Unfortunately, people have forgotten to appreciate their close contemporaries, because they have two eyes to see, two ears to hear and one mouth that apart of speaking clever words demands their daily bread. It’s difficult for them to bring their level of objectivity to degrees equal to the great gifts of their fellows. Especially if God let them hide their own obtuseness behind an abundance of rhyming quotations of well-known truths and paraphrased statements of acknowledged authorities. Perhaps time must pass and only descendants will be able to discern the true scale of the Master’s greatness from a distance of decades. Following an infectious example and paraphrasing Franz Liszt’s words about Pauline Viardot, I’d like to state with full responsibility, Alexandra Kryuchkova is not simply a Russian literary figure. She is a cultural phenomenon, and one day the turn for the precious wines of her inimitable work will come!”

Boris Mikhin,

poet, member of the Union of Writers of Russia,

laureate of literary awards

“Foreing Notes”[1] magazine No. 1 (47), 2022[2]

L. Kuzminskaya, “Venice in the works of Alexandra Kryuchkova”

Venice is one of Alexandra Kryuchkova’s favorite cities, as she tells us in her novels in the “Playing Another Reality” series. In particular, Venice is practically a character in the novel “A Guardian Angel”. Alexandra has visited Venice many times, both on business trips and for creative performances, “I’ve just come back from a business trip there,” I sighed, still looking at the paintings. “My favorite city. I often go to Venice. On business and on my own. There is something magical about the city that keeps me coming back.”[3]

The author’s most important trip to Venice, described in “A Guardian Angel”, took place in March 2012. It was a tour from the Booker Laureates’ School in Milan, where Alexandra was taking a poetry seminar of Evgeny Rein, a friend of Joseph Brodsky. Together with E. Rein, the seminarians also visited Brodsky’s grave in the San Michele cemetery[4].

“I found myself at the cemetery! Surrounded by tombstones! I came up to one of them and read, ‘Joseph Brodsky’. ‘How did I end up in Venice? What am I doing here? Perhaps it’s just a dream.’ Some voices were heard in the distance. They were calling me. I caught up with them and… Suddenly, I remembered joyfully that I was there with a group of writers and poets, at the seminars of E. B. Rein and V. Erofeev! Dmitry Nemelstein, a poet and historian, came up to me, ‘Alexandra, don’t be sad! You’ll succeed!’ ‘I’m not sleeping! Yes! Exactly! He addressed me by my earthly name! We were there for a tour of the places of Brodsky!’ My memory returned, I gradually remembered how we had left Milan by bus, got to the pier of San Marco and arrived by boat to the cemetery island of San Michele.”[5]

Italians have a superstition. You shouldn’t come to Venice with your loved one, otherwise, after the trip, you’ll break up for one reason or another.

“You should go to Venice with your loved one!”

“I thought so, too. But an Italian, the CEO of the factory, with whom we communicate at work, said that Venice was considered in Italy to be an unhappy city for lovers, bringing eternal separation. He gave me some examples from his own life and the lives of his friends. Even engagements had been canceled after such trips, and one girl had even died!”[6]

Perhaps that’s why Venice appears in Kryuchkova’s poems as a city of ghosts, and in her prose as a theatrical stage with cardboard decorations, where even “the Moon in the sky is cardboard”[7], and is reflected in “cardboard water”[8], “Venice, the mystical city to which, according to the Italians, a trip together with the loved one threatens eternal separation, appears in the novel as a sinister black city, mourning ghosts. The description of the cardboard Moon in the sky and its cardboard reflection in the cardboard (!) water make a strong impression – like plunging into madness at the moment when, experiencing the main character’s feelings, you become aware of shifting edges in your own head.”[9]

“What’s this?” I burst out involuntarily.

“I paint,” the composer said, embarrassed.

There were paintings on the shelves by the window. A lot of them. There was a black city on all of them, with black houses, small blind windows, gray Mist and Full Moon, on every picture. It was the city too familiar to me, my favorite city, the City-on-the-Water. But in those pictures it looked completely cardboard, like the scenery on the stage – artificial, frightening, sinister.

“Have you been to Venice?”

“Never.”

“Why is it black?”

“Maybe it’s… crying.”[10]

In fact, both the poems and the central part of the novel “A Guardian Angel”, “A Dreams’ Trap”, are connected with the writer’s mysterious dream about her own funeral in Venice, which is described both in the novel and in the poem “Chimera”.

“I had a strange dream about a year ago. I was being buried in Venice. I completely forgot about it, but remembered recently, during my last business trip, while I walking around San Marco. I went to the pier and saw a boat sailing away from the shore. Just like in that dream…”

“So will you be buried in Venice?”

“I don’t know. It was early morning. It looked like spring. A misty haze. There were only two people in the boat, the boatman and the Man in Black with gray, almost white hair. They were carrying my body or ashes. I don’t know, I was scared to look inside the boat. They were going to the opposite island. I don’t even know what island it is. I’ve never been to it.”

“So who is he, your Black Man?”

“I don’t know.”[11]

And so the waxing Moon, the symbol of the Subconscious, reaches its “cardboard” culmination in Venice, “We docked at San Marco at night. The Man in Black brought me to my favorite City-on-the-Water. But stepping on the square, I saw it differently, as a black, sinister city, completely drowned in pitch darkness, and cardboard, like scenery on a theater stage! The whole earthly world is a huge theatrical stage on which people play performances for ghosts. Dressed in costumes of earthly bodies, they live on the stage surrounded by cardboard scenery, which can be instantly destroyed by the One who keeps prescribing in the Astral Tablets the plot threads of the plays of their destinies. These strange creatures – people – are so enchanted by the magical illusion of changing scenery that only Death is able to rip off the Venetian masks fused with their faces. I stood on San Marco in pitch darkness, trying in vain to find at least a lantern. The city was de-energized. I didn’t see any light in it. There were only black dead houses around me. Everything there was unreal. Cardboard! Frightening!! Sinister!!! So I ran away in a long dress woven by the Mist, into the distance, along the bridges, trying to find the River that took souls into the sky. I ran, suffocating, along the scenery of black cardboard houses, with no light in the windows <…>. Finally, I found the transition point! I got to the place where there was no bridge, but steps going right into the water, and similar steps coming out of the water on the opposite side. One wouldn’t be able to jump there. It was the Looking Glass, reflecting everything there. It was a pity that no one could see what I saw, and how I saw the earthly world then. It had become cardboard, black, an ominous monster! I sat down on the steps leading into the water, waiting for my parents, who were about to come for me. I looked at the black sky, where the huge Moon was hanging. But it was also… cardboard! I turned my gaze down to its reflection – wow! – someone had cut out a cardboard copy of the Moon and put it on the same cardboard (!!!) water <…>. My parents appeared out of the Looking Glass. They came up to the steps on the other side of the River. But suddenly, booming footsteps were heard behind my back. The Man in Black gently took me in his hands, like a little girl, and carried me away.”

“San Marco. Morning. The sunshine. The square gradually came to life, flooded with people. I was standing by the column not far from the Cathedral, so I could see the sea and the island of St. George opposite. I was in a white dress. Cheerful music was playing. And gradually, I began to see Venice the same as I had seen it before. But… how had I got there? What was I doing there? There were ghosts around me, my friends from the Library of the Universe and my parents. The Man in Black smiled and invited me to dance with him right on the square. The ghosts surrounded us. Nobody saw them but me. It was a pity. I began to see ghosts even during the daytime and much clearer than whatever ordinary people saw. The ghosts whispered, ‘Alice, come on, smile! Dance, please! That’s what you wanted so much! You need him!’ And I realized that it was my wedding, that was why I was in a white dress. But only my ghosts would be among the guests. So I was dancing on San Marco with the Man in Black. The ghosts picked up pigeons throwing them at us and making me smile. Suddenly, my memory restored completely. I remembered my world collapsing <…>, and despair overwhelmed me <…>. And again, everything became cardboard, fake, sinister! That city was like a prison! And I decided to get outside…”[12]

The conflict between Love and Death, inherent in Kryuchkova’s prose, also manifests itself in her poetry cycle about Venice, and its magical attraction not only captivates the writer but also enchants the reader. On the one hand, Venice, to quote Alexandra Kryuchkova, is a trap, a labyrinth, a poet’s apocrypha, a dream, a chimera, a bad omen, a house of tragedies, a last refuge, the music of the rains, it serves an ominous star, and its bridges lead to disaster. The city’s name itself is polysemantic, though, besides its association with the Veneti tribe, after which the Romans named the region as Venice (Latin: Venetia), there are no other official meanings. But the poet’s imagination is boundless. Venice evokes various associations: Ophelia’s wreath from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, with its ambiguous flowers symbolizing unhappy love; and Venus, the planet of love, with its two images: Lucifer, the Morning Star, and Hesperus, the Evening Star. Perhaps for some, Venice evokes other associations. And yet, “my bridges haven’t seen us yet together!”, “…Murano glass has poured in me a symphony of delicate nuances…”, “Would you paint me… A café, a tail-coat for lanterns, which are sparkling through years with hope, that the happiness surely happens prior to hearts are drowned in darkness.”

Love wins – the writer is confident of her return.

“Let’s go back to the touch to that city,

where songs are still sung to the water,

just to laugh at the ringing gold coin,

dancing there, among masks and faces,

and to glow in sunshine with bridges,

self-aligning with spirits and pigeons.”

“Let’s fly into the portal, let’s escape!

Still lulling Life, the waves await us there!

I’ll pass to you my Venice as a gift, –

keep it forever like a thread between us.”

“Mark sleeps, still unaware, through the dreams I will return, an earthly hostage of his spring…”

Despite the melancholy permeating Alexandra’s “Venice” cycle, the main leitmotif remains life-affirming, “Let Venice separate us, but like a ghost at dawn, still smiling, my hello will silently flash up…” But it’s better to read the novel yourself. So, Venice by Alexandra Kryuchkova…

Larisa KUZMINSKAYA,

poet, member of the Union of Russian Writers,

head of cooperation unit of the “Poets of Moscow”

“Literary News”[13], No. 1 (211), 2023[14]

 http://z-zapiski.ru/archive.php

 https://reading-hall.ru/publication.php?id=30990

 “A Guardian Angel”, chapter 2.4

 B. Mikhin, “Angels and Stars: M. Tsvetaeva, E. Rein, and A. Kryuchkova”, “Foreign Notes” magazine, No. 1 (27), 2022.

 “A Guardian Angel”, chapter 3.3

 “A Guardian Angel”, chapter 2.4

 T. Troubnikova, “Guardian Angels do exist!”, “Literary News” No.11–12 (197–198), 2021.

 http://litiz.ru/archive/litiz_2021_11-12(197-198).pdf

 https://reading-hall.ru/publication.php?id=30038

 “A Guardian Angel”, chapter 2.4.

 “A Guardian Angel”, chapter 2.4.

 “A Guardian Angel”, chapter 3.7.

 http://litiz.ru/arch.html

 https://reading-hall.ru/publication.php?id=32536

PART I. A GUARDIAN

This book is dedicated to

Marina Tzvetaeva,

Anna Akhmatova,

Alexander Blok

Thanks to

all the characters of the novel, including:

Y.V. Myshonkov,

V.G. Shiltzyn,

N.Y. Smirnova,

N.P. Savkina,

E.G. Lisichkina,

Angel on the bench

“A ladle[1] is there. A spoon?

I’m kidding, just give me your hand,

my Angel.”

“I’m tired a bit,

You’d better sit down as well…”

“It seems a dead end, doesn’t it?

‘A bad mark’ in gradebook of yours,

since happiness passes me by,

when you are in such awful mood!

Oh, Angel! Don’t be a recluse!

It’s time for the brightest night hunts!

The Weds are still catching the Tues,

so shouldn’t we take a detour?

My best friend, you are so smart

to argue with each evil fate!

What’s there? And what street is this,

we are now on? Do you hear

them singing? – yes, under the bells,

they praise Christ with all their might!

Unable of falling asleep,

I’m nannying the Moon – born again.

***

Angels are not found on the road. At least, because there are far fewer of them than people… Angels, they are all in short supply, thus, in great demand. There are not enough of them. So many people dream of them. Some spend their whole life just dreaming.

Angels have much more to do than the people to whom they were assigned from Above. They are the guardians. They even have no time to take a nap. If suddenly one’s ward starts to behave like a pig, then again, because of the catastrophic disproportion between winged and piglets, the Higher Forces send that one’s Angel to another human who needs help more and, most importantly, deserves body and soul guarding.

The queue is here, on Earth, for the Angels, even if you can’t see it with your earthly eyes. Perhaps you are the next one. But when an Angel is given to you from Above, treat your Angel with care, as if it were you a guardian. Become the guardian Angel of your guardian Angel. Of course, your Angel will take it with a smile, but will be very pleased… And never offend your Angel to avoid being at the tail of the queue again, because… Angels are not found on the road.

I know I’ll be definitely sent someone who needs an Angel and who will appreciate the Angel in me…

Chapter 1.0. Prologue

February 14, night

Moscow, on a skyscraper roof

Deep night. It was snowing. Two spirits in white clothes were sitting on the roof, dangling their legs and talking quietly. Suddenly, a third one appeared. A very handsome and slyly smiling, he came out of the blizzard towards them and hung in the air.

“Hello, Glamorous, long time no see,” one of those sitting on the roof said calmly, showing no particular joy at the appearance of the latter.

“Hello, White! I have something to do. Let’s step away to talk,” the spirit hanging in the air said.

White and Glamorous walked away into the blizzard, slowly wandering through the air over the city.

“Listen, well, I’m all about my ward,” Glamorous said, sighing heavily.

“What’s up with him? Is he flirting with the Dark ones again?”

“Well, nothing special, but he must return some debt to your Alice.”

“Did he think of that himself?”

“No, it’s me to worry about. He’s getting old, not as you and me. He’ll die one day. What will it mean for Alice? Many of her sins will be paid by him. But how can I justify myself for his deeds?”

“What do you want? Say it straight.”

“We need to bring them together!”

“That’s funny.”

“What’s so funny, bro?”

“My Alice is always around. Your sinner is always out there. It’s not my question!”

“Let’s replay that situation, okay?”

“How many summers, how many winters have already passed!”

“On a new level!”

“What has the level to do with it? Have you looked at her dial?”

Glamorous instantly disappeared and appeared in one of the rooms of the skyscraper, where the light had long been turned off, and on the bed, wrapped in a blanket, a girl was sleeping peacefully. Glamorous looked at the watch on her hand. The girl, as if sensing something, shuddered and opened her eyes half-asleep.

Glamorous disappeared from the room. He was again next to White and, still smiling slyly, twisting a lock of golden hair around his finger, purred joyfully, “Swiss!”

“Glamorous, are you an angel or a human?! I mean Zodiacal one.”

Glamorous cast a glance up at the sky. White pulled away the falling snowflakes with his wings, as the curtains. Against the background of the black sky, a ghostly dial appeared, the Zodiacal one. The planets took their places in the circle divided into 12 sectors, Hours or Houses (in the language of Heaven), or Spheres of human life (in the language of Earth).

Mentally highlighting the most important, Glamorous read, “A person is separated from the world by a wall visible to others. Death walks nearby. Change of job or, with bad aspects, oncology is highly likely. Maximum of creativity or love is the goal for the year.”

“Bro, it’s the goal for the year!” exclaimed Glamorous, dematerializing the Zodiacal dial. “My ward will help her!”

“He has already helped. It’d be better no help at all!”

“Well, it’s not my fault that all the time your Alice keeps trying to combine both lines of the 5^th Sphere. Wasn’t it you then, on the eve of their meeting, who allowed her to make two wishes to the Japanese one-eyed god at once, meanwhile it used to fulfill only one? So everything went wrong! Both wishes were from the same Sphere, and each came true exactly in half. Anyway, only one thing is realized in the 5^th – a human gets either Love or Creativity. Actually, as in any other Sphere: in the 6^th a human serves the world or gets sick, and so on, you know!”

“Hasn’t she created enough in your opinion? Why are you pointing me at her Rahu? Open your eyes to her Pluto!”

“White, she can’t leave! Have pity on me! Keep her in their world! Let they meet again. I’ll do my best! I swear on the Bible!”

A ghostly book appeared in the air, Glamorous put his palm on it, and the book disappeared.

“I’ll help you get Alice out,” Glamorous continued to beg. “Let’s think together about the way! There is still enough time before her birthday when the next New Year program starts! Today is February 14, and her day is April 5! Moreover, she is an advanced user, not like my ward!”

“I’ve just saved her from Saturn in 8. You can’t imagine what it cost me! Having scanned all the options trying to find at least someone to warn her, I flew to another city on a business trip to negotiate with a local guardian. The date of the car crash was given to her on the eve! And she, the ‘advanced user’, understood nothing! By the way, do you remember what your sinner said to Alice when he called her then?”

“Sorry, bro! I didn’t foresee it, didn’t stop him, didn’t inspire!” Glamorous looked away in embarrassment.

“Yes, you didn’t inspire! My Alice, hardly breathing, with a concussion, and he said something like, ‘Do you have your ear sewn beautifully or not?’ Damn aesthete! Ugh, forgive me, God!”

“White, are you an angel or a human? Why are you scolding? So, I’ve made up my mind, look!”

Glamourous returned the dematerialized Zodiacal dial, held out his hand and turned the dial just a little.

“Don’t mess around!” White sighed and took Glamourous’ hand away from the dial.

“I don’t! I’ve just moved the Sun out of her 12^th Sphere. On the right side, there are the coordinates of the place where she needs to be on her birthday.”

White read the word appeared in the sky.

“Elabuga, a funny place for a birthday party!”

“Your Alice hasn’t celebrated her birthday for many years. Anyway, have a look! These planets are now at the same places as they were when our humans met!”

Chapter 1.1. The Man in White

February 23, evening,

Moscow, a cozy coffeehouse

Alice was sitting at a table in a coffeehouse. White, her guardian angel, was sitting across the table. He looked at her sadly and sighed. Her fingers were typing a text message. She wrote, then erased, then re-wrote and looked at each word for a long time. As a result, she put the phone aside and drank coffee.

In the distance, the hazy outlines of a grey-haired Old Man’s guardian appeared. That angel, called Elder, was walking slowly along the windows of the expensive boutiques of the shopping center towards the coffeehouse. People didn’t notice him, they ran about their business, passing through the ghostly figure. White recognized the Old Man’s guardian and waved to him. Elder approached their table, and they greeted each other.

“I’m just for a moment, White.”

“Has something happened?”

“Not yet in the earthly reality, but in the Space of Options. Do you remember my ward helped your Alice in due time?”

“Unforgettable! We owe you much!”

“He is going through hard times. No way to avoid. I’ve tried this and that way. Alice should hold an official event with him as the protagonist. It has to be planned urgently, because he’ll get into trouble soon.”

A movie screen appeared in the air and the incident frames were projected onto it.

“After this date,” Elder continued, and the date instantly appeared in the air, “neither Alice nor anyone else will ever think of organizing such an event. And if it turns out to be planned before the incident, he’ll have to appear on it at all costs. He is very responsible! The event will make him feel needed by their world, you know.”

“Yes, of course… What date of the event will suit? The end of March?”

The ghostly Book of Life appeared in the air. Elder flipped through it slowly and stopped somewhere in early April.

“What do you think about her birthday, the 5^th?”

“I can’t this day, sorry, Elder. She has to be in Elabuga on the 5^th. I’m starting to organize her transfer. The 6^th only.”

“Are you transferring her to Elabuga? It’s interesting! You are moving the planets, I see. Isn’t there a brighter place?” Elder smiled kindly, White spread his hands. “Okay, deal. Let’s fix it on the 6^th. Around lunchtime. And don’t plan it for too long. A couple of hours as maximum.”

“All right. I’ll inspire her today. I hope, he’ll be aware of it already tomorrow.”

Elder looked thoughtfully at Alice and said, “Your Alice has the same gaze as my Elder. It’s turned into the depths of Heaven. Both their souls are kind. The angel, who told the publisher to name her book after the Great Ones, was right. And it’s good we made our wards get acquainted! What do you think? There’s a certain continuity of times: Anna-Eugeny-Alice.”

White nodded. Alice took the phone in her hand, re-read the text of her message again, then abruptly clicked the “Send” button, and the message flew away. Elder patted White on the wing.

“Well, I have to go. Fly to the one she has sent this message to. Take care of Alice, White, so that the Dark ones don’t get her.”

Elder and White disappeared, each in their own direction. Alice finished her coffee and asked for the bill.

***

far from Moscow, a house by the sea

White appeared in a luxurious house and searched for his colleague, scanning every room on every floor. Dim, an angel who, unlike many guardians, emitted a very faint light, was kneeling in the darkest corner of the building.

“Hello, Dim,” exclaimed White joyfully. “Happy defenders’ day! Defenders of the Fatherland, Heaven, I mean! You don’t look good, who put you in the corner?”

“Happy day, bro! I’m praying here. Day and night, night and day.”

“You’re withering before my eyes! You don’t pray well! Where’s your ward?”

“The same problems, he’s surrounded by the Dark ones! It’s time for him to think of God, but… As I come a little closer, the Dark ones throw me out. So I have to stay at such a distance from him. Every time, as soon as I get strength, I go straight to him, trying to drive the Dark ones away. But as you see, I don’t last long enough. Why are you here, White? What do we owe the pleasure to?”

“Alice suffered out a message for him. He’s reading it now. Let’s go.”

“The Dark ones are there!”

“Get up, Brother, let’s go. One Light is good, but two Lights are better!”

Dim stood up from his knees and, without ceasing to pray and make the sing of cross along the way, went to his ward.

In a study room, a Man in White sitting in a black armchair was reading Alice’s message. Dark shadows were fussing around him. They whispered something in his ear winking at each other. Suddenly, the shadows noticed the guardians.

“Hello, defenders!” a Dark one smirked. “Dim, you aren’t strong enough yet! Why have you come here again?”

White looked at the Man in White and said thoughtfully, “What did my ward find in you?”

“Wow, White!” another Dark one, named Black, exclaimed. “Your ward, judging by her messages, is not exactly a saint, but you’re still the same caring for her! No matter how hard you try, no matter you take her away, she is drawn to him as if bewitched! Note that we didn’t put any love spells! Moreover, he openly demonstrated to her his true essence! Alice, calling him by a ‘starry’ name, is well aware of whom she is dealing with! However, it’s not in our plans to be at war with you, White. Alice is absolutely contraindicated for him.”

“Contraindicated? By whom?” White chuckled.

“By our boss. Your Alice, although not a saint, is protected by the angel named White. Not Dim, not Glamorous, not Extinguished. It means, she is anyhow a person of Light. So she can have a negative effect on our fallen starred one.”

“Negative effect?!” Dim exclaimed outraged.

“Therefore, we have an order from Above…” Black went on.

“Your ‘from Above’ in the language of Truth means ‘from the Bottom’, ” Dim corrected Black.

“In short, defenders,” the second Dark one cut off the conversation abruptly, “we don’t want that man to communicate with Alice. I suppose that suits you, too, White, doesn’t it?”

“At the present moment, it suits me,” White agreed.

“Fine. Are you here to prevent a negative reaction against her? We assure you, we are not interested in mouse fuss. This man plays big. He, as we ourselves, need much energy, so we are not going to waste it by reacting to such nonsense.”

“Since when is Love nonsense?” Dim sighed, came very close to the Man in White and touched his arm.

The Man’s gaze became soft, the phantom of Alice appeared on his inner screen, the Man smiled. But the Dark ones immediately noticed what was happening. One of them dispersed the girl’s phantom, and the other pushed Dim towards the doors with a rough energy wave.

“Until he wants to change himself by directing his gaze towards the Light instead of the Darkness, you’ll stand, you know where, Dim!”

***

Moscow, the cozy coffeehouse

Alice got the bill being sad. White appeared in the coffeehouse, “A stubborn sheep! I can neither make you forget the Man in White, nor let him to be nearby. At least for now.”

Alice raised her head and looked straight into the eyes of her guardian. She seemed to both hear and see him, but it just seemed so.

Having remembered his promise to Elder, White instructed Alice, “Call that Woman from the House of Serving to Creativity. Suggest an event…”

Alice obediently took her phone, dialed the Woman and told her the idea she had just come up with to hold an important event… at the end of March.

“Alice! On the 6^th of April,” the guardian exclaimed.

Alice stopped abruptly. She looked into the eyes of her guardian, or through them? She felt like saying, “No, not at the end of March! Let it be on the 6^th of April!” But she didn’t under