At the Edge

At the Edge. Victor Matveev

The novel is based on real events, however characters, locations and circumstances may be fictional.

Although I have never met Victor Matveev in real life, and our relationship as author and translator over the past year and a half has developed through telephone calls, emails and the pages of his novel, I would dare call myself a friend and supporter. I was aware of the incident with the Artic Sea through the media, but not until now had I understood the depths of physical and emotional cruelty, but also heroism and stoicism. Victor is a true Hero of Our Time, but unlike Pechorin, one not overcome by self-doubt and hesitation, but one filled with resolve, sensitivity and courage, the Hero that our times need.

“At the Edge” is an intriguing criminal story, framed and bounded in the poetic prose of a masterful author, reminiscent in its nuances of Pasternak, Bulgakov and Gogol – sometimes mythical in its traditions – sometimes dark in its humour… A challenge to write and a challenge to translate!

David Mossop

is a PhD lecturer in Linguistics at the University of Sofia, Academic Editor, New Bulgarian University. Member of the Chartered Institute of Linguists UK

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Victor Matveev was born in 1962. Graduated from the Admiral Makarov Maritime Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia. He studied at the University of Edinburgh. He emigrated from Russia in 1996. In Finland he built a shipping company, which was included in the «Golden Book» of Finland in 2002. In 2009, after his company’s ship was hijacked by pirates, he moved to Switzerland.

The author of illustrations Dmitry Shagin is an honoured artist of Europe, founder of the creative association «Mitki», winner of the Tsarkoselskaya Art Prize. His paintings have been exhibited in museums and galleries in Russia, Ukraine, Finland, Paris, New York, Berlin, Tel Aviv, Riga and Tallinn. His paintings are in the collections of the Russian Museum, Tretiakov Gallery, Novosibirsk Art Museum and other museums in Russia.