Like A Drop Of Ink In A Downpour: Memories Of Soviet Russia

Yelena Lembersky’s (BFA ​‘91) new memoir, Like A Drop Of Ink In A Downpour, is about growing up in Leningrad (Saint Petersburg) in her grandfather’s art studio. The piece takes you through her family’s quest to emigrate and her mother’s incarceration on a fabricated criminal charge, leaving Yelena, then an eleven-year-old child, without a family. Told from multiple points of view, the book offers an insider’s perspective on the roots of contemporary Russia. It is a coming-of-age story that’s heartfelt and uses honor to tell the story of the unbreakable bond between mothers and daughters, and the healing power of art.