The Shoemaker and his Daughter

Conor O’Clery is a legend among foreign correspondents. Over four decades - in Russia, the Middle East, Africa and Asia - he has established himself as a voice of wit, close observation, and sane good sense. His new book will be welcomed by everyone who cares about good writing, and about the human stories that enable us to understand the great movements of world history. * Richard Lloyd Parry, author of Ghosts of the Tsunami *
Conor O’Clery’s latest book is a tour de force - a sweeping account of the turbulent decades of the Soviet Union and the new Russia, told through the prism of a Russian-Armenian family. The story features love, politics, murder, wars, and the fracturing of ties, personal and ethnic, brought about by Stalin and his Kremlin successors. O’Clery is a gifted writer. His subject is one he knows well: his wife’s father, mother and relatives, as they make their own sure-footed journey through a treacherous twentieth century. * Luke Harding, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Collusion: How Russia Helped Trump Win the White House *
Highly readable, deeply informed telling of an ordinary, extraordinary story. * Sunday Times *
Takes us into the hidden heart of Soviet Russia… an illuminating combination of history, politics, geography and humanity that’s personal and close… An arresting and evocative story, brought alive through a host of characters, not least, the vast, hostile, secretive Russia herself. * Keggie Carew, author of Dadland *
Transcends the confines of a mere family history… With his easy humour, engaging style and innate sympathy for the little guy, O’Clery shows how events and decisions in Moscow affected millions of Russians in myriad life-changing ways. * Financial Times *
This is not a book about heroic dissidents or murderous fanatics, but about everyday people trying to navigate a system that frustrates them yet provides them with priceless opportunities…Enchantingly written, thoughtfully structured and a model for all the other journalists who pass through Moscow. * Economist *
An unusual chronicle of the end of the Soviet Union, seen through the eyes of an extended family… O’Clery tells their story with tender clarity. – Xan Smiley * Literary Review *
An often brilliant exploration of nearly a century of Soviet and post-Soviet history … highly readable, deeply informed telling of an ordinary, extraordinary story. * Sunday Times, Ireland *
[A] superb, illuminating book … A memoir of great power and poignancy. – Peter Hitchens * Mail on Sunday *
[O’Clery] is an elegant and scrupulous writer. His consistently excellent reportage is further enriched by Zhanna’s memories. * Irish Times *

Conor O’Clery holds a unique perspective on the former Soviet Union, as resident Irish Times correspondent during the last four years of communism and as a frequent visitor since then, having married into a Russian-Armenian family in Krasnoyarsk. After Moscow he was a foreign correspondent in Washington, Beijing and New York. He has been twice awarded Journalist of the Year, for his dispatches from Moscow and for his reporting of the 9⁄11 attacks in New York. He is the author of several books including Melting Snow, on the fall of the Soviet Union; The Greening of the White House, about the Clinton presidency, The Billionaire Who Wasn’t, a biography of the philanthropist Chuck Feeney; and Moscow, December 25, 1991, an account of the last day of the Soviet Union.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.