The definitive British language translation of the internationally bestselling Russian novel-a brilliant dark fantasy with ‘the potential to be a modern classic’ (Lev Grossman), combining psychological suspense, enchantment, and terror that makes us consider human existence in a brand new and provocative way.

Our lifestyle is brief .

While vacationing at the beach with her mom, Sasha Samokhina fits the mysterious Farit Kozhennikov under the most peculiar circumstances. The teenage gal is certainly about Vita Nostra: A Novel powerless to refuse when this unusual and unusual guy with an air of the sinister directs her to execute a task with potentially scandalous outcomes. He benefits her effort using a strange golden coin.

As the days progress, Sasha carries out other acts that she receives more coins from Kozhennikov. As summer season ends, her domineering coach directs her to go to a remote control village and make use of her platinum to enter the Institute of Special Technology. Though she will not want to visit this unknown city or school, she also feels it is the just place she ought to be. Against her mother’s wants, Sasha leaves behind all that’s familiar and begins her education.

As she quickly discovers, the institute’s ‘special technology’ are unlike anything she has ever encountered. The books are difficult to learn, the lessons obscure to the idea of maddening, and the work refuses memorization. Using terror and coercion to keep carefully the students in line, the school will not punish them for their transgressions and failures; instead, their families pay a terrible cost. Yet despite her fear, Sasha undergoes adjustments that defy the dictates of matter and period; experiences that are nothing she’s ever dreamed of . . . and abruptly all she could ever wish.

A complex blend of adventure, magic, technology, and idea that probes the mysteries of existence, filtered through a distinct Russian sensibility, this astonishing work of speculative fiction-brilliantly translated by Julia Meitov Hersey-is similar to modern classics such as for example Lev Grossman’s The Magicians, Maximum Barry’s Lexicon, and Katherine Arden’s The Carry as well as the Nightingale, but will transportation them to a place much beyond those fantastical worlds.