Getting Matushka Out

On the rivers of northern Russia a torrid love affair between a Russian lecturer and an English woman unfolds on a tourist ship – and then climaxes in violent tragedy. The man is the son of a former Soviet official, now gravely ill, and his wife who are stationed in London on the eve of the collapse of the old Soviet Union. They insist that their son and daughter stay there because they will have a better future in Britain than in the wreck of the old Soviet Union to which they themselves now have to return. As time passes Nick Bell (as the lecturer is now named in his forged documents) is determined to go back to Russia and find his mother, or matushka as he fondly calls her, and bring her back to London whatever the risk. Thus begins his desperate hunt for matushka, acted out against the background of Nick’s passionate relationship with Dotty Desmond, the ship’s Tour Manager, and his often hilarious contacts with the passengers on board. His search is further complicated by the onslaught of a Russian mafia gang which stages a swift-moving and brutal attempt to snatch the ship from rivals, and in so doing dramatically changes the future for Nick and Dotty.