★ A major three-part novel by Dina Rubina, a renowned contemporary Russian-Jewish author and a living classic of modern literature! Her works have sold over 8,000,000 copies!
★ A “romantic adventure thriller” that blends elements of love, history, suspense, and family saga, widely regarded as Rubina’s most successful foray into genre fiction!
★ Shortlisted for the final round of the 2020 Big Book Award, where it secured second place in the readers’ vote!
★ A family-epic novel with a gripping plot and a meticulously crafted structure, featuring a multi-strand narrative that interweaves a modern main storyline with historical subplots!
★ With its intricate structure and vast temporal and spatial scope, this work reaches a new pinnacle in the author’s creative career and is hailed by scholars as a landmark piece for studying her later prose style!
★ A distinctive creative approach: In this trilogy, Rubina employs a cinematic montage-style technique of spatial editing, layering and connecting different artistic spaces and time periods—from the Napoleonic era to the present—according to the principle of “rewriting,” thereby creating a unique and complex narrative structure.
★ This work allows us to see the microcosm of grand historical narratives in the lives of ordinary people, making it ideal for adult readers who enjoy exploring historical depth and intricate narrative structures within stories of love and fate.

The book comprises three volumes: “The Rowan Wood Wedge” (Volume One), “The White Horse” (Volume Two), and “The Angel’s Horn” (Volume Three).

“At the heart of this book lies love—a love that not every couple is destined to share, and that not everyone can let go. Aristarkh and Nadezhda meet in childhood and grow up together in this profound, abiding love... until betrayal strikes, shattering their lives and overturning all their hopes and plans. Life casts them apart from one another, pulling them out of the orbit of their love—but 25 years later, it brings these two profoundly changed individuals back together once again.” — Dina Rubina

Zinaida Rubina is a widely recognized literary master, a living classic of contemporary literature, and a highly acclaimed prose writer. Her works are not only cherished by readers but also deeply admired by the professional literary community, having earned her numerous prestigious literary awards and honors. Rubina’s much-anticipated new trilogy, “Napoleon’s Train,” is her second trilogy after the “Russian Canary” trilogy. This trilogy is regarded as Rubina’s most successful experiment in genre writing, seamlessly blending elements of romance, adventure, and historical thriller. The “Napoleon’s Train” trilogy consists of three volumes: “The Rowan Wedge” (Volume 1), “The White Horse” (Volume 2), and “The Angel’s Horn” (Volume 3).

Nadezhda and Aristarkh have known each other since childhood, and their tender first love accompanies them throughout their lives. Yet their youthful romance ends in tragedy, and this bond shapes the fates of the protagonists in “Napoleon’s Train” (and, as you might expect, the ending is far from happy). In her depictions of love, Rubina has always managed to touch the deepest, most delicate emotions in the human heart—and this time, she seems to have surpassed herself. The characters Stashek and Nadezhda embody the very essence of all the lovers in Rubina’s works, creating a vivid and authentic reading experience. As a result, right up to the very end of the story, readers feel intimately connected to the characters, sharing their joys and sorrows, and, of course, hoping for a happy resolution.

The “Napoleon’s Train” trilogy may be the work with the largest cast of characters in Zinaida Rubina’s oeuvre. The author has long sought to create richly drawn, multifaceted characters in both her novels and short stories, rendering each figure with remarkable depth and precision. In this new work, however, every character—even those in secondary roles—has become an indispensable link in the narrative chain. Each possesses a distinctive voice, unique facial expressions, a distinct body language, and a carefully crafted, finely nuanced destiny. Izyum, Nadezhda’s neighbor in adulthood; the elderly woman Baobab; Stashek’s father; Svetlana, the woman who disrupts the family; even the surgeon Nadezhda encounters by chance during her journey—who disappears as suddenly as he appeared—all these figures are like pieces of a mosaic, coming together to form a larger picture and lending the novel a cinematic, vivid quality.

Rubina’s work stands out for its ability to reveal little-known historical details. For example, everyone knows that after his defeat, Napoleon lost most of his army and fled Russia in disgrace. But where did the jewels, works of art, and priceless treasures that the defeated emperor tried to smuggle out of the country ultimately end up? Behind the love story of Nadezhda and Aristarkh Bugrov lies a real detective tale, one that begins with the Patriotic War of 1812. As the protagonist Stashek sets out in search of the mysterious legacy of his French ancestors, he becomes entangled in a dangerous adventure—one that could very well cost him his life.

Perhaps no other work by the author contains as many unexpected twists and turns as this one. In the first volume, “The Rowan Wedge,” Rubina merely sets the stage for future events, meticulously mapping out the destinies of the main characters while weaving in lengthy descriptions and monologues. The second volume, by contrast, moves at a fast pace, gripping the reader from beginning to end and keeping them in a state of suspense—a development that further fuels the imagination and lays the groundwork for the third volume, which is itself packed with climactic moments. And it is this third volume that is bound to deliver a genuine shock. According to Rubina, “The Angel’s Horn” will leave you holding your breath as you follow the characters’ fates. Chases, mysterious strangers, chance encounters, and even the traditional duel between hero and villain—are all part of the story. To be sure, the ending remains shrouded in mystery. Yet anyone familiar with Rubina’s work knows that the conclusion will be anything but predictable.

Before the reader’s eyes, a great love quietly unfolds—a love comparable to that of Orpheus and Eurydice, except that it is not death but life itself that separates the lovers. As always, the author’s style is unmistakable: the themes are rich and multifaceted, the depiction of life is all-encompassing, the issues explored are profoundly deep, and the prose is so beautiful that it captivates and enchants the reader.

Immersing yourself in Rubina’s writing is an unparalleled pleasure: it is as if you are observing life through a glass window, listening to the words between the lines, and committing to memory the distinctive traits of each character. What’s more, not a single character in the book is purely good or purely evil—a narrative approach that only adds to the allure. After all, as we know, real life is no different: there are no absolute heroes or villains; everything depends on your perspective.

Rubina’s new novel is a major event in both the literary world and public life, possessing all the hallmarks of a true bestseller.

[Author] Dina Rubina
A contemporary prose writer and bestselling novelist, Dina Rubina has repeatedly won or been shortlisted for prestigious literary awards, making her one of Russia’s most distinguished writers.
Born in the Soviet Union (in Tashkent), she later emigrated to Israel. Her works are widely read across the global Russian-speaking community—in Russia, Israel, and among diaspora communities in Europe and the United States. She is regarded as one of the leading figures of “Russian-language world literature,” creating works that transcend the confines of a single nation-state by focusing on themes of diaspora, identity, and cultural hybridity. Her writing combines the readability of a bestseller—rich plots and intense emotional tension—with profound philosophical reflections and cultural metaphors, successfully bridging the gap between mass-market readers and literary critics. With a delicate touch, she portrays the spiritual dislocation of post-Soviet Jewish immigrants, exploring how concepts such as “homeland,” “memory,” and “language” are being reconfigured in the age of globalization. Her seminal works, “The Russian Canaan” and “The Madman Gurevich,” both revolve around these central themes. Rubina excels at embedding individual destinies within the broader sweep of history—such as the collapse of the Soviet Union or the history of the Jewish people—while rejecting empty grand narratives and instead focusing on the emotional traumas and survival wisdom of ordinary people. Her works often feature wise and resilient women as protagonists, while also offering deep insights into the moral dilemmas and artistic pursuits of intellectuals amid profound societal upheaval. Her psychological depth and acute social observations evoke the works of Chekhov and Bulgakov, while her portrayal of “little people” struggling in the crucible of history echoes the compassionate vision of Dostoevsky.
In her early years, Rubina’s youthful writings were published in the magazine Yungshun. She lived and worked in Moscow before settling in Israel in 1990. After moving to Israel, she served as a literary editor for the “Friday” literary supplement of the Russian-language newspaper “Our Country.” During this period, her works began to appear in leading Russian literary journals such as Novy Mir, Znamya, and Narodnoe Druzhba. In 1978, she joined the Writers’ Union of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic, and in 1979 she became a member of the Writers’ Union of the Soviet Union. She has also been a member of International PEN Club and the Israeli Association of Russian-Speaking Writers since 1990. She has received numerous accolades, including the Award of the Ministry of Culture of Uzbekistan, the Aryeh Durkin Prize (Israel), the Award of the Israeli Writers Association, and the Oleg Tabakov Charitable Foundation Prize.
Since the 1970s, when she began her literary career, Dina Rubina has published more than a dozen full-length novels and nearly thirty collections of short and medium-length stories. Her work “Da Vinci’s Handwriting” won the Ronghu “Portal” Prize for Best Long Science Fiction Novel. In 2007, her novel “On the Sunlit Street” was awarded the Big Book Prize. Her bestselling novel “The Puppet Syndrome” was adapted into a film and won an award at the Second Silk Road International Film Festival. In 2015 and 2020, she was shortlisted for the Big Book Prize for her trilogies “The Russian Canary” and “Napoleon’s Train,” respectively. In addition, her works have been translated into multiple languages and published internationally, earning her the Israeli Writers Association Prize (1995) and the French Book of the Year Award (1996). Several of her works have also been adapted for film and television. To date, her books have sold more than 8 million copies.