Author(s): Andrei Makine

Fiction | New Fiction | July 2024

My Armenian Friend is a moving and nostalgic story about how one friendship can shift our perspective and irrevocably change our lives. Set in Siberia in the 1970s during the decline of the Soviet Empire, the adult narrator looks back on a childhood friendship formed with an Armenian boy called Vardan. The narrator becomes Vardan’s protector, for the young Armenian’s maturity and sensitivity make him a target for schoolyard bullies. The narrator is welcomed by Vardan’s family living in exile in a diverse neighbourhood populated by former prisoners, exhausted adventurers and many who have been forcibly uprooted from their homes. Touching anecdotes characterise this text, and powerful memories blending reality and myth are used to recreate a ‘kingdom of Armenia’ that will have a lasting impact upon the author.