★ It covers the wives of Soviet leaders: from Nadezhda Krupskaya to Raisa Gorbacheva, plus women who entered the Kremlin as comrades-in-arms. It unpacks their personalities and tangled fates thoroughly.
★ The book is full of exclusive materials: archival records, witness accounts, and contemporary memories. It answers questions like why some were exiled, and whether life behind Kremlin walls was happy.
★ The author is a veteran poet, prose writer, and former social activist. She uses a documentary tone to craft a collective portrait of these women—balancing personal warmth with historical weight.

Larisa Vasilieva’s investigative documentary work focuses on the fates of women whose husbands led the Soviet state. From Nadezhda Krupskaya to Raisa Gorbacheva, the author paints a collective portrait of "Kremlin wives," detailing their personalities, actions, and the tangled complexities of their life paths. What were these partners of the USSR’s top leaders like? Was their life behind Kremlin walls happy? Why were some arrested or exiled? The book also highlights women who entered the Kremlin corridors not as wives, but as comrades-in-arms: Larisa Reisner, Alexandra Kollontai, and Galina Semenova. It is based on exclusive archival materials, personal impressions, interviews with witnesses, and contemporary recollections.

Larisa Nikolaevna Vasilieva

Vasilieva, Larisa Nikolaevna (b. 1935), is a Russian poet and prose writer. Born on November 23, 1935, in Kharkiv to engineer N.G. Kucherenko, she wrote *A Book About My Father (A Memoir Novel)* (1984) about her father’s extraordinary life. She has published numerous poetry collections and long poems, exploring themes of war, Russia’s historical fate, love, and nature—seeking to unpack the contradictions of the era and the complex inner world of modern people. In the 1990s, Vasilieva was an active social activist and served as president of the International League of Women Writers. She also works as an English translator.