This is a book about death, comprehensive in its discussion of strategies for coping with loss and grief in rural northern Russia. Elizabeth Warner and Svetlana Adonyeva bring forth the voices of those for whom caring for their dead is deeply personal and firmly rooted in practices of everyday life. Thoroughly researched chapters consider lamenting traditions, examine beliefs surrounding natural symbols, and parse sensitive and profound funereal rituals.

“We remember, we love, we grieve” is a common epitaph in this part of the world. As contemporary Russia contends with the Soviet Union’s legacy of dismantling older ways of life, the phrase ripples beyond individual loss—it encapsulates communities’ determination to preserve their customs when faced with oppression. This volume offers insight into a core cultural practice, exploring the dynamism of tradition.

Elizabeth Warner is a professor emerita of Russian at the University of Durham. She is widely published on a variety of aspects of vernacular Russian culture and is the author of Russian Myths. Svetlana Adonyeva is a professor of folklore and theory of literature at St. Petersburg State University. She is a coauthor of The Worlds of Russian Village Women: Tradition, Transgression, Compromise.