It’s been a sad three years for Paullina Simons since the international bestselling author last came to our shores. Not only has she lost both grandparents but the Russian-born writer has also mourned the death of her parents.
Having relied heavily on her family’s history, culture, birthplace and story for her 11-book writing career, their deaths have delivered a severe blow.
“I very much still feel the Russian-ness in me but in the last four years I have lost all the members of my family that brought me here,” she says from her Long Island home on the US’s east coast. “And so, for me, Russia has become very painful. I don’t speak Russian and I don’t make Russian food any more. It reminds me of my family which causes me pain. I hope it’s a temporary thing.”