★ Literature is always drawn to the most painful and most hidden aspects of human experience—this is the very essence of literature, its flesh and blood. This is the vivid voice of a writer who has devoted her life to “writing stories,” offering a heartfelt and at times shocking confession.
★ My profession is that of a writer, and I see the entire vast world as a treasure trove of interwoven plots. This novel about writing, the fate of writers, and their inner worlds explores the nature of creation with astonishing candor.
★ An autobiographical novel about life and literature—a startling confession by the writer about herself, her family, her destiny, and her era.
★ A “thrilling confession” about the soul and the writer’s vocation, at the heart of which lies the enduring tension between literature’s preoccupation with humanity’s most painful and hidden depths—and the author’s conviction that this is precisely where the meaning and vitality of literature reside.
★ The most authoritative work on the art of writing, penned by one of the most successful prose writers of our time, whose 50-year creative career is being celebrated with great fanfare in Russia!
★ Open this book and step into the creative world of Zinaida Rubinina, a towering figure in contemporary literature!

Zinaida Rubina’s “The Solitary Writer” is an autobiographical novel about life and literature. This work stands apart from all of Dina Rubina’s previous writings—it is a novel about a writer creating a novel. It is a startlingly candid confession by the author about herself, her family, her fate, and her era. At the same time, it is one of the most authoritative works on the art of writing, coming as it does from a towering figure in contemporary literary circles.
As always, Zinaida Rubina tackles a wide range of themes with a mischievous smile yet unguarded honesty, leaving readers marveling at how a single book can encompass so much: What does it mean to be a writer? Where do these peculiar individuals come from, and what shapes them? What kind of people are writers, and what lies within their inner worlds? What captures their interest, brings them joy, and causes them pain? What is the essence of writing, and what is the purpose of creation? Where do characters, plots, and entire novels originate? What role do childhood and family play, along with our fears and guardian angels? How do our dreams, the truths of writing, and the fabric of fiction intertwine? What about the relationship between men and women—love and desire? How does profanity become the finishing touch in the eloquent speech of a master wordsmith? What about mysticism and coincidence in literature? What is the relationship between a writer and the vast worlds they create? And what about the death of a writer—a culmination of a lifetime’s work, yet also a kind of triumph? In her signature elegant and witty style, Zinaida Rubina reflects on writing and many other topics. She shares personal stories about her childhood, emigration, travel, and encounters with extraordinary individuals. She also explores the relationships between humans and God, between writers and readers, and between love and death. This book fully reveals Dina Ilinichna’s unique perspective on life: her remarkable ability to discern paradoxes in the ordinary and to unearth gripping stories from the smallest details.
In contemporary Russian literature, this book stands out as entirely distinctive. Even foreign works on similar themes typically fall into one of two categories: guides to the craft of writing or autobiographies by bestselling authors. Zinaida Rubina’s “The Solitary Writer,” however, is neither a beginner’s guide nor a conventional autobiography. It is a deeply honest—and at times shockingly frank—confession by a writer who has devoted her life to “writing stories.” It is the vivid voice of a writer who, with unsettling fearlessness, probes the revelations of the soul and the calling of the profession. At its core, it is a novel about the vocation itself—the life devoted to creation, the courage of the writer, and the tireless spirit of the creator. After all, literature is always drawn to what is most painful and most hidden. That is the very essence of literature, its flesh and blood.

[Author] Dina Rubina
A contemporary prose writer and bestselling novelist, Dina Rubina has repeatedly won or been shortlisted for major literary awards, making her one of Russia’s most distinguished and deserving writers.
Born in the Soviet Union (in Tashkent), she later emigrated to Israel. Her works are widely read across the global Russian-speaking community—among Russian, Israeli, and diaspora readers in Europe and the United States—and have earned her a reputation as one of the leading figures of “Russian-language world literature.” Her writing transcends the confines of any single nation-state, focusing on themes of diaspora, identity, and cultural hybridity. Her novels combine the readability of bestsellers—rich plots and intense emotional tension—with profound philosophical reflections and cultural metaphors, successfully bridging the gap between mass-market readership and literary criticism. With a keen eye for detail, 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 sweeping historical narratives—such as the collapse of the Soviet Union and the history of the Jewish people—yet she eschews empty grand narratives, instead centering her work on the emotional traumas and survival wisdom of ordinary people. Her protagonists are often wise and resilient women, while she also delves deeply into the moral dilemmas and artistic quests 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 carries forward the compassionate tradition of Dostoevsky.
In her early years, Dina Rubina’s youthful works were published in the magazine Youth. 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” supplement, the literary weekly of the Russian-language newspaper Our Country. During this period, her works began to appear in leading Russian literary journals such as New World, Banner, and Friendship of Peoples. In 1978, she joined the Writers’ Union of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic; in 1979, she became a member of the Writers’ Union of the Soviet Union. She is also a member of International PEN Club and the Association of Russian-Speaking Writers in Israel (since 1990). She has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Prize of the Ministry of Culture of Uzbekistan, the Arye Dvorkin Prize (Israel), the Prize 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 novel “Da Vinci’s Handwriting” won the Ronghu “Portal” Award for Best Long Science Fiction Novel. In 2007, she was awarded the Big Book Prize for her novel “On the Sun-Drenched Street.” 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, her trilogy “The Russian Canary” and, in 2020, her trilogy “Napoleon’s Train” were both shortlisted for the Big Book Prize. In addition, her works have been translated into multiple languages and published internationally, earning her the Israeli Writers Association Prize (1995) and the French Annual Best Book Award (1996). Several of her works have also been adapted for film and television. To date, her books have sold more than 8,000,000 copies!

“My profession is that of a writer. I see the entire vast world as a treasure trove woven from countless plots and stories.” — Dina Rubina