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6. Socialisation Capsule

Sonya assists building the Socialisation Capsule, while the commune awaits news of Pasha and Volodya. Read by Barbara Flynn.

To Gerty’s chagrin, Sonya begins to assist Slavkin in the building of the Socialisation Capsule.

Meanwhile the whole commune waits anxiously for news of Pasha and Volodya.

Early in 1914, 22-year-old Gerty Freely travels to Russia to work as a governess, little-knowing the huge upheavals in the world and in her own life that lie ahead.

In London, 1974, Gerty begins a memoir for her daughter Sophy, looking back at that extraordinary time of war, revolution and civil war.

Most of her memories are centred on a young inventor, Nikita Slavkin, who mysteriously disappeared in 1919 and was subsequently celebrated in Soviet culture as The Vanishing Futurist.

“No word has been heard from him since […] Yet the idea persists that one day he will reappear.”

Charlotte Hobson's novel abridged in ten parts by Jeremy Osborne.

Read by Barbara Flynn.

Producer: Jeremy Osborne

A Sweet Talk production for ѿý Radio 4, first broadcast in September 2020.

14 minutes

Last on

Tue 24 Jun 2025 03:30

Broadcasts

  • Mon 28 Sep 2020 12:04
  • Mon 28 Sep 2020 22:45
  • Mon 23 Jun 2025 08:30
  • Mon 23 Jun 2025 13:30
  • Mon 23 Jun 2025 19:30
  • Tue 24 Jun 2025 03:30