The Disappearing Act
by Maria Stepanova, trans by Sasha Dugdale (Fitzcarraldo, £12.99)
Art imitates life in Maria The Stepanova’s new novel, Charges Att which follows a writer known simply as M, living in exile from her unnamed native country as it wages war on a neighbouring state. Given that Stepanova, a Russian poet, essayist and author, left her home in Moscow for Berlin in 2022 after the invasion of Ukraine, the similarities are no coincidence. As M struggles with severe writer’s block, it becomes clear that she’s consumed not only by the unease of untetheredness, but also the weight of the guilt of a nation.
By Danielle Goldstein
This article appears in the Spring 2026 issue of JR.
