Catherine Merridale, a historian of Russia and the former Soviet world and an award-winning writer of nonfiction, has published “Moscow Underground,” a detective novel set in Moscow in 1934. She spoke to Pushkin House about the process of writing her first fiction book and the power of fiction to explore the Stalinist period, creating complex characters and navigating contested historical legacies in her book. Pushkin House: Why did you decide to write ‘Moscow Underground’? Catherine Merridale: I always dreamed of writing fiction, even before I became a professional historian. I love the adventure of historical research, but it has been impossible to do serious work in Russia for some years now — or even to go there. Instead, I took the opportunity of writing from my imagination and it's been an adventure of a different kind and very satisfying. PH: How did your earlier research and your background as an oral historian help you construct the book, its plot, characters or settings? CM: Though ‘Moscow Underground’ is a work of fiction, I conceived it by imagining an old man (Anton) telling me his story.
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