Translated by Michael Scammel and Dmitri Nabokov in collaboration with Vladimir Nabokov.
'It was Nabokov's gift to bring Paradise wherever he alighted' - John Updike
Fyodor is an aspiring young writer living in the closed world of Russian émigrés in 1920s Berlin, who dreams of the great book he will someday write. This is the story of Fyodor's all-engulfing passion for writing, his attempts to be a success, his yearning for his native land and his relationship with the elusive Zina; a tale of remembrance, secrets, family, time, art, lost keys and butterfly-catchers that is infused with love.
Nabokov's last novel written in Russian, The Gift weaves together past and present, dreams and reality in a warm, joyful evocation of young artistic ambition.
