This is the story of a very free-spirited Russian girl, a dutiful and skeptical American reporter, and the improbable love they shared. It is also an intimate portrait of the curious country that sparked their love and made it impossible. The tragic tale is not merely a delightful read but also a classic of its kind. "In "The Girl From Petrovka, " writes "The New Yorker" magazine, Feifer has written the only good American novel about modern Russian life that I can remember. Oktyabrina Matvyeva joins the ranks of memorable-and heroic-women of modern fiction. "