Twenty Letters to a Friend

E45163

"Twenty Letters to a Friend" is a memoir by Svetlana Alliluyeva, Joseph Stalin’s daughter, in which she reflects on her life inside the Soviet elite and her complex relationship with her father.


Statements (48)
Predicate Object
instanceOf book
memoir
author Svetlana Alliluyeva
countryOfOrigin Soviet Union
describes Stalin’s family life
Stalin’s personality
childhood of Svetlana Alliluyeva
emotional impact of Stalin’s rule on his family
life inside the Soviet elite
personal relationship with Joseph Stalin
political climate in the Stalin era
privileges of the Soviet nomenklatura
repression under Stalin
genre autobiography
political memoir
hasCentralTheme complex relationship between father and daughter
disillusionment with Soviet ideology
memory and trauma
moral responsibility
hasForm prose
literaryForm letters
literaryStyle confessional
reflective
mainSubject Joseph Stalin
Soviet elite
Stalin family
Svetlana Alliluyeva
life in the Soviet Union
medium print
narrativePerspective first-person
notableFor critical reflection on Stalin’s legacy
insider view of Stalin’s household
personal account by Stalin’s daughter
originalLanguage Russian
portrays Joseph Stalin as a political leader
Joseph Stalin as a private person
publicationPeriod 1960s
relatedPerson Joseph Stalin
Nadezhda Alliluyeva
members of the Soviet leadership
relatedWork Only One Year
structure twenty letters
targetAudience general readers
readers interested in Soviet history
readers interested in biographies of political figures
timeSpanDescribed Stalin era
early 20th century
post-Stalin Soviet Union

Referenced by (4)

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