For those of you who can’t read in Russian…

My book “Chelsea. The rules of the Game”, published in 2009 by AST Moscow, is a romantic travel diary. The story stems out of my own experiences in London but is not autobiographical. I blended a few people into the main character, and shifted things around. I describe real life situations – without naming anyone, don’t you worry… – in an attempt to help newcomers see through the London social fog. I also hope to ruin the ever so popular myth of a noble-hearted English Gentleman.

The romance sparks between Sam, an old-school English guy in his twenties, and Miss Sokolova, young and naive Russian girl who has just arrived in London. Sokolova lives in Chelsea and meets Sam on a night out. With a privileged background (family estate, Eton followed by Edinburgh), Sam is a typical Chelsea boy. He is so suave that it borders on being emotionally unhealthy and informationally obese. The question is: should the sophistication that many of us want to achieve, or have achieved, be something to be proud of? Is a more complex society necessarily superior?

The book also describes the favourite pastimes of Chelsea folk: drinking, hunting, racing and all the glamour of the social season.