Like a Drop of Ink in a Down­pour: Mem­o­ries of Sovi­et Rus­sia traces Yele­na Lembersky’s child­hood in Leningrad (Saint Peters­burg) in the 1970s and ​‘80s. Her life is upend­ed when her fam­i­ly decides to emi­grate to Amer­i­ca, but instead her moth­er is charged with a crime and unjust­ly incarcerated.

Told in the dual points of view, this mem­oir is a clear-eyed look at the real­i­ty of life in the Sovi­et Union dur­ing the Cold War, giv­ing us an insider’s per­spec­tive on the roots of con­tem­po­rary Rus­sia. It is also a com­ing-of age sto­ry, heart­felt and fun­ny, a tes­ta­ment to the unbreak­able bond between moth­ers and daugh­ters, and the heal­ing pow­er of art.