Olga Gromova, "Sugar Child": a brief summary, the main characters, the theme

The novel "Sugar Child", whose summary is given in this article, is a work by the writer Gromova. In fact, this is a documentary book written with the words of a real character, a little girl of Stella. Her childhood fell on hard times in the Soviet Union - 30-40-ies. The book, written in early 2010, immediately became a bestseller, winning the readers' love and respect for literary critics.

A novel about a girl

"Sugar child", the brief content of which allows you to understand what the essence of the work is, this is a very sincere novel. Readers admit that he takes the soul and fascinates already from the first pages. In the center of the narrative is little El. She grows up in a strong family, where love and respect for each other reign. A happy idyll collapses at a time when it turns out that her father was recognized as the "enemy of the people." What is it, she still does not fully understand. But her life is changing dramatically. In place of quiet family evenings, experiences come, daily stress.

Elia is in a terrible, unpleasant world where everyone is not happy with her. Father is arrested. He is taken away from home, nothing is known about his fate. All attempts of the girl's mother to break through the bureaucratic wall come to an end with almost nothing. "Enemy of the people" is in the dungeons of the NKVD.

With Eli and mother also treated in an inappropriate way. They are sent to the camp for members of the families of traitors to the Motherland. For them there is even a special unpleasant abbreviation - CSIR. It also brings socially dangerous elements (ESR).

The camp is located far from their home - in Kyrgyzstan. The unfamiliar and difficult climate, the severity of the move, the difficult conditions of detention. All this negatively affects the state of the girl.

Undergrowth novel

Despite all the trials that fall to their lot, Elia and her mother do not despair, do not lose heart. Olga Gromova writes a classic teenage novel in which she shows how the parent even in critical circumstances should and can help the child to endure the most macabre moments in life.

Mama Eli constantly jokes, sings songs, reads poetry of her daughter. They do their best to take care of each other. They are facing illness and hunger, but nothing will force them to part. "Sugar child," whose main characters have to literally survive in the circumstances, is also a novel of upbringing. A very fascinating book about true love, and also what is inner freedom and human dignity. Freedom, which can be in every person even in the years of repression, is given most accurately by Mama Eli. In her opinion, slavery is only a state of mind. If a person is internally free, then it is impossible to make him a slave.

The novel "Sugar Child", the summary of which is in this article, was awarded prizes and awards. In particular, the book entered the long list of the prestigious literary prize "Kniguru", received a diploma of the award named after the famous science fiction writer Krapivin.

Summary of the novel

Next, we will try to elaborate on the plot of the work in order to better understand the ideas that the author has laid down. Almost everyone will find something of their own in the "Sugar Child". A brief summary is an excellent proof of this.

In the center of the narrative is a mother who underwent bone tuberculosis and received a disability because of this, and her 6-year-old daughter. Because of the arrest of the head of the family, they are simply in the inhuman conditions of the camp for elements that are undesirable in Soviet society. But even here they do not despair, in every way trying to cheer up each other, most afraid not for themselves, but for the fact that they can injure a loved one.

The inner world created by them resists external horror. Only it helps them to survive. At times, the author Olga Gromova describes simply terrible episodes. The little Ely warden breaks her nose with the rifle butt for wanting to tear the tulip in the flowerbed. But even this does not allow the heroes to harden and lower their hands.

Life after the camp

Next, Gromov in the "Sugar Boy" describes the life of the heroes after the camp. True, they are not allowed to return to their native city, but are sent to remote Kyrgyz villages. Here they meet good and kind people who are sympathetic to the situation in which the mother and daughter turned out to be.

Here there are settled Kirghiz, dekulakized Ukrainian families. Everybody respects the Kyrgyz culture and language, which has even greater local residents.

The meaning of the title of the novel

In this part of the novel we learn the meaning of its name. The Kirghiz people start to call Elya "kant balla", which in translation from their language means "sugar baby". The analysis of this work is best based on his most vivid chapter - "Great Reading."

It tells how almost every evening all the exiles, including Russians, Ukrainians, and local residents, gather together in one of the barracks. They tell each other stories about their lives, retell famous works related to their culture, read poems, stories and novels. For example, Gogol and Pushkin. And often in translation into Kyrgyz.

These evenings, readings at the same table unite all those living in this village, in difficult, sometimes, simply unbearable conditions.

The novel describes 10 years, and all subsequent events of the life of the main characters are summarized in the epilogue.

For whom this book?

"Sugar child" is a book for family reading in the quiet evenings. An excellent opportunity to establish internal dialogue in the family, to tell the children about the unpleasant and terrible pages of the history of the country, which you still need not forget.

In addition, it is a wonderful novel, capable of demonstrating to all modern people how it is necessary to remain human and not to lose one's dignity, even under the most difficult conditions. Those who have not been lucky enough to get into the millstones of history, manage to keep faith in good people, as well as love for their land and their homeland.

In fact, this is an eternal story based on a new material for children's literature. This is the story of a girl from the last century, which is also brilliantly illustrated by the artist Maria Pasternak. Throughout her work, she was in close contact with the author. Therefore, she managed to portray everything as close as possible to how it was represented by the writer, when she created her work.

Writer Gromova

The author of the novel "Sugar Child", whose theme can be defined as love for loved ones and preservation of human dignity, in ordinary life works as the editor-in-chief of the journal "The Library in School". Therefore, she knows perfectly well what kinds of children's literature today pupils face, what modern children's literature appears on the shelves of shops and book shelves in libraries.

However, in order to create such a work, she needed some courage. After all, the topic of Stalin's prohibitions had not previously been raised on the pages of children's literature, it was taboo on it.

Novel of Education

At the same time, Gromova's book continues the Russian and Soviet tradition of upbringing novels. They must be present in the home library of every teenager. After all, such books allow you to understand the internal problems, to learn the details of the history of your country, even if not the most pleasant, to understand the basic moral rules that should be adhered to throughout life.

Previously, such compulsory readings were Netozchka Nezvanova Dostoevsky, the trilogy of Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy about growing up, the novels of Kataev and Oseeva. Today they are replaced by books by contemporary authors. "Sugar child" is one of the most successful examples of reading for the new modern generation.

Prototypes of the main characters

Another advantage of this novel is that everything that is mentioned in the pages of the "Sugar Boy" is not an invention. The book is biographical. It is based on the memoirs of Stella Nudolskaya. It is she who is the prototype of the main character - the girl Eli.

As the author ironically notes in the pages of the novel, her parents were indeed socially dangerous elements. At least, so at that time often were evaluated facts from the biography that were from Eli's parents. And Stella's mother and father had higher education, owned several foreign languages, drew and played musical instruments in their spare time. They had an enviable family tree. Grandfather Eli - a pillar nobleman, who worked at the Tula Arms Factory.

Thus, it turns out that this book is the only one that tells the story of Stalin's repression and at the same time is addressed to children.

Nudolskaya, who became the prototype for this novel, also wrote her own documentary biography. It was called "Do not let yourself be afraid." However, for the children's work this name, of course, was not suitable. Therefore, the novel was decided to be called "Sugar Child".

For the Thundering edition of this book was a matter of principle. She promised to do this to her friend Nudolskaya, who died long before this work was published.

Acquaintance of Gromova with Nudolskaya

Gromova met Nudolskaya when they were neighbors in a communal apartment, even in the Soviet Union. The writer describes a woman who became a prototype for her future work, as a lonely, but strong person. When they met, Nudolskaya lived alone. Her husband died, and his son worked far from Moscow. Despite all the domestic and life difficulties, she found the strength to lead an active lifestyle. I read a lot, specially went to the club of veterans, where I introduced old people to literary novelties. Created a group for young mothers, in which she taught everyone who wants to sew and embroider.

Gromova in her memoirs describes a talkative woman with an acute mind and a delicate sense of humor. She always told her about her life in Central Asia, work on the Chukchi Peninsula, about the Moscow region schools she studied after the war, when she and her mother were finally allowed to return from Kyrgyzstan. In her stories, Nudolskaya described very precisely and in detail the characters, the situations she faced in her life, and the world around her.

Day of Political Prisoners

It was from Nudolskaya Gromova that she learned that every year on October 30 in the Soviet Union they celebrate the day of political prisoners. At that time, the topic itself was banned. The new girlfriend of the writer was just one of those who suffered from political repression.

But soon more free time came. Perestroika began, and Gromov and Nudolskaya began to process these memories and publish them in the form of essays in newspapers and magazines.

Soon her son returned from the North. He was terminally ill and could not work the way he used to. The main goal of Nudolskaya's life was taking care of him, visiting hospitals and clinics, it was necessary to obtain the necessary medicines.

She did not break even at that moment, she became a model of persistence and vitality. And for the very Thunder, and for her readers. Because the image of the heroine is recreated in the novel is very realistic.