In the summer of 1879, on his way
to Moscow to study medicine, 19-year-old Anton Chekhov, from a bankrupt
merchant class family, stops to spend a restful few weeks in the Ukrainian countryside,
staying with his friend, Dr. Mitrofan, who is worried about Anton’s lingering
bronchitis.
It is here that Anton meets Vera Denisova, also 19, a budding actress, the
daughter of theater aristocrats from Volkhov, a neighboring estate. The two spend
much of their time wandering Volkhov’s vast property, hoping for a glimpse of a
white deer that has been spotted in the back acreage.
As they grow closer, Vera confides in Anton about her
secret romance and heartbreak over Petya, a servant her age who was gifted at
drawing and who she helped to acquire an apprenticeship as a draughtsman in
order to leave servitude for good. Anton is fascinated by her obsession, and a
triangle forms between Vera, Anton, and the absent Petya. Anton, too, shares
his secrets with her, his conflicted relationship with his indigent family and
his frustrated wish to publish stories. Surreptitiously through Anton, Vera
learns the truth about her family’s declining financial situation and the
impending loss of her beloved childhood estate. Together in the long, extended
light of summer days, Vera and Anton struggle to come to terms with their
feelings for each other and the new profoundly changed world that is waiting
for each of them at summer’s end.
The final section of the novel charts the
correspondence between Vera and Anton over the next two decades. Vera has
become a successful actress and Anton, a doctor who treats peasants for free,
has more than realized his ambition as a writer.
In a final letter to Vera before his death at 44 of
tuberculosis, Anton reveals that his play, The Cherry Orchard, was
inspired by his time with her at Volkhov.
Praise for The White Deer:
"In this stirring tale, McBride evokes a
sense of place with lush depictions of birch stands and daisy fields along with
a soundtrack of Tchaikovsky and folk tunes, creating a backdrop for Vera’s
tender and chaste friendship with Anton. It’s an evocative portrait of a
vanishing way of life."
~ Publishers Weekly
"This transportive novel sweeps the reader up
into a vivid, melancholic dream set on a nineteenth century Russian estate.
Regina McBride creates her own Chekhovian tragi-comedy that delights as it
captures a lost world frozen in time. The White Deer is a gripping
must-read for anyone who loves literature and a love story gone awry."
~ Virginia Pye, author of Marriage and Other
Monuments
Buy Link:
Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/mvaor8
Regina
McBride is the author of eight books. The White Deer ~ a novel of Anton
Chekhov is her sixth novel. She is also the author of one memoir, Ghost
Songs, and one book of poetry.
Her novel, The
Nature of Water and Air, was a Booksense Pick (Independent Book Stores
Selection), a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers book, and a Borders
Original Voices choice. It was optioned for a film. Her books have been
translated into five languages.
A recipient
of fellowships from the NEA and the New York Foundation for the Arts, Regina
lives in New York City, where she taught fiction writing for thirty years at
Hunter College and continues to teach privately.
Author Links:
Website: https://www.reginamcbride.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100010471921681
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reginamcbride/
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Regina-McBride/author/B001IXMGLE
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/71686.Regina_McBride
If
you enjoy powerful historical fiction, you’ll love Forgiving Nero. An
award‑winning novel of betrayal, survival, and redemption set in ancient Rome. https://books2read.com/u/3GOMvQ
