What do Congressman Mel Reynolds and Joseph Stalin have in common? A predilection for teenage girls, if you believe the state’s attorney and a new book on the wives and mistresses of Soviet leaders. Kremlin Wives, by Russian poet and feminist Larissa Vasilieva, explores a topic taboo under despots like Stalin, when wives and lovers were best known for their anonymity.
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Under the communist regime Vasilieva herself led an obscure life. As a member of the officially sanctioned writers’ union she quietly churned out 20 books of poetry. Her work has been translated into nine languages. But she’s become best known for her Kitty Kelly-esque account of the women behind Kremlin leaders. Since its explosive release two years ago, the book has sold 2.5 million copies. Demand was so high the book was hawked by the carton on Moscow street corners. Arcade Publishing in New York put out an English-language version this spring.
Stalin abhorred emancipated women, Vasilieva writes, and as he turned 40 he married the teenage Nadezhda Alliluyeva, who may also have been his daughter. Fourteen years later she died from a mysterious gunshot wound; some believe she was murdered by her husband, but Vasilieva speculates that it was suicide.
