In a Nutshell:

Days in the Caucasus, originally published in Paris in 1945, is Banine’s memoir of her childhood in Baku, from when she was born (1905) until she left for Paris in 1923. It was translated into English in 2019. Parisian Days, the kind of sequel to Days in the Caucasus was published earlier this year and it is available in an English and Spanish translation!

An Observation:

Russian émigré author Teffi was a fan of Banine’s writing: “ I started to leaf through the book and was soon engrossed.”

Themes:

Childhood, solitude, loneliness, love, family, travel and female emancipation.

A Quote:

“When one ‘wants to live one’s life’ nothing gets in the way more than a husband-any woman will confirm this.”

Details:

Book: Days in the Caucasus

Author: Banine

Translator: Anne Thompson-Ahmadova

Publisher: Pushkin Press

Publishing Date: 26/03/2020

Author: Banine

Umm-El-Banine Assadoulaeff was a French writer of Azerbaijani descent who wrote under the pen name of Banine. She was born in 1905 into one of Baku’s wealthiest families: her peasant-born great-grandfather had discovered oil on his land. She left in 1923, after the Revolution, for Istanbul and then Paris, and she never returned to Baku. She died in Paris in 1992.

Translator: Anne Thompson-Ahmadova

Anne Thompson-Ahmadova is a freelance writer, translator, editor and former editor of Visions of Azerbaijan.

A bit about me!

Here I am with my husband visiting one of our favourite places in the world, the Westonbirt Arboretum!

A bit about me, my name is Jess Andoh-Thayre. I am from Brixton, South London. I currently live in Cambodia. Before living here in Cambodia, I lived in Tanzania with my husband, who is a diplomat. I have also lived in Chile and Spain. I am a French, Spanish and English as an Additional Language (EAL) teacher. I recently qualified as a SENCo (Special Educational Needs Coordinator). After taking three years off to have a baby in a pandemic and also retrain, I have just returned to work as an Elementary Learning Support Teacher.