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In ‘Shashenka’ Simon Montefiore has created a main character with realistic historical attitudes, created by the contextual rhetoric of Stalinist Russia. It’s a triumph for a historical novelist to produce such a character without giving them softer, modern sensibilities and the technical dedication to historical character development is impressive. Unfortunately Montefiore, who specialises in Russian history, is unable to leave his readers to make their own judgements about his historically accurate main character, Shashenka, perhaps fearing that they will judge her harshly due to a lack of historical understanding. By attempting to steer readers towards a sympathetic judgement he destroys the potential for readers to form an honest connection with Shashenka and to examine exactly what creates the woman she becomes in middle age.The reader first meets Shashenka as an idealistic new convert to the Bolshevik cause, who is suddenly arrested outside her elite school. She has been exposed to Bolshevik literature by her Uncle Mendel and this literature shapes her ideas into the definite form of idealism that most people first experience as a teenager. Shashenka feels no doubt about her new ideas, as they provide her with logical reasons for her personal feelings, such as her hatred for her mother who is a decadent adulteress. The ideas of the Party reflect Shashenka’s growing hatred for the lifestyle that her family leads and so she embraces the Party’s doctrines as truth, because they make sense in terms of the world she sees around her (ie. the rich she sees around her are immoral). In the initial stages of the book it’s easy for the reader understand Shashenka’s unwavering faith in the Bolshevick cause because of this contextual background and to sympathise with her, even if they dislike her views.
As the second part of the novel catches up with Shashenka in later life the fact that Shashenka still expresses such contextually logical ideas make her an extremely unlikeable character. She expresses no doubt about the reasons behind the party’s punishment of those who have served it and does not question why top Bolsheviks, who once asserted that they had no need for family, or fabulous possessions, now live as comfortably as the bourgeoisie they destroyed. While this is a plausible historical attitude for a character who has learnt that Stalin is the heart of the party and whatever Stalin sanctions is right, it is not an attitude that enables the reader (at least not this reader) to feel sympathy for Shashenka. The most I could feel for Shashenka was a clinical, logical understanding of what had created her, but it is quite clear that Montefiore wants his reader to feel for Shashenka when she and her family are torn apart on Stalin’s orders. When Montefiore starts to suggest, by emphasising Shashenka’s close relationship with her children and her illicit love affair, that his readers should empathise with his heroine I couldn’t.
For me, being encouraged to feel sympathy for this older version of Shashenka was like being asked to feel sympathy for a witch finder who has expressed no doubt about the job he does until his own wife is accused and killed as a witch. Both the witch finder and the Bolshevik may have contextually logical reasons for their beliefs and while these genuine views make it possible to view them as people, rather than monsters it doesn’t excuse their actions. If Shashenka had expressed any silent doubt that what was happening to her father and friends wasn’t right I could have felt for her, even if she wasn’t able to stand up to the injustices (that would be a pretty big ask for a heroine in Stalinist Russia)but as she doesn’t I couldn’t find any sympathy for her character even though she suffers immensely. The logical reasoning, which leads Shashenka to join the Bolshevik cause in her youth is created out of pain, so it’s easy to not just understand her reasoning, but to sympathise with her, despite her naiveté. Her willingness to adhere to the Party in later life seems to come from a kind of blank acceptance, which she doesn’t even question when people she thought seemed loyal to the party are ‘ unmasked’. She only questions the Party when her children are in jeopardy and while again I find that a plausible response for a mother to have, it’s not one that inspired the sympathy Montefiore hoped to produce.
I know that I’m being especially harsh on Sashenka and I did feel terrible for her when the painful manner of her death was revealed, but I honestly think Montefiore’s inexpert attempts at manipulating my emotions got in the way of my connection with his main character. I’m still not sure I could ever feel sympathy for her, but without the distracting sentiment (fair warning, I found the presentation of her children cloyingly sentimental) insisting that I feel sorry for her I might have come to a better understanding of what she was all about.
I’m split about this novel. I admire that Simon Montefiore has managed to create a contextually accurate historical character, but I feel that he undermines his endeavour by so obviously instructing his readers in how they should feel about Shashenka. I also think that the final section where a young historian must unearth the mystery of what happened to Shashenka felt as if it had been tacked on to illustrate a moral for historians and to show how Russians viewed Stalinist history. There’s a crazy coincidence that links the historian to Shashenka, which feels false and frankly pointless. However there are knowledgeable descriptions of the country, people’s dress and the places that Shashenka visits that make the book feel authentic. There’s also a sense of pace sustained throughout the book, which makes the history and the consequences of each action thrilling. The first section reads like a well written political thriller that follows an adventurous female character. I just couldn’t connect with the women this naive, but principled girl grows into.
If you’ve reviewed this book please leave a link to your review in the comments and I’ll link to your review at the bottom of my post.
