On the Golden Porch (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Tatyana Tolstaya
- First Published: 1987
- Type of Plot: Magical Realism
- Time of Work: The late 1940's
- Setting: A small town in Russia, near Leningrad
- Principal Characters: A young woman, Veronika Vikentievna, Uncle Pasha, Margarita
- Genres: Psychological fiction, Short fiction, Character study
- Subjects: Family or family life, Memory, Communism or communists, Communication, Alienation, Dreams, Reality, Victims, Fantasy, Imagination, Loneliness, Russia or Russian people, Moscow, Soviet Union or Soviets, Urbanization
- Locales: Moscow, Russia, Leningrad, Russia
The Story
“On the Golden Porch” is told in the first person by an unnamed young woman who is attempting to recall her childhood experiences in a small Russian town near Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). The story opens with a detailed description of an enchanted garden, in and around which most of the action takes place. In this garden, several girls experience for the first time some of the secrets of life, including accidentally seeing a naked man. The two main characters, Veronika Vikentievna and her husband, Pasha, become the focus of the reminiscences. Veronika, a strong...
[The entire page is 1527 words long]

