Lana Estemirova – författare

A RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK 'Powerful . . . a coming-of-age story with a twist' Guardian'Heart-wrenching . . . We need accounts like this haunting, compelling book' Telegraph'A profound and moving tribute . . . It is Lana's inside perspective on what it was like to grow up within this society that makes this such a unique and powerful book' Sunday Times'Wonderfully brave, beautifully written and utterly authentic' TLS'Haunting' Radio Times'Please live' were the last words fifteen-year-old Lana said to her mother. Shortly afterwards Natalia Estemirova was kidnapped outside their apartment block in Grozny, Chechnya. On 15th July 2009, she was murdered for telling the truth. A mountainous sliver of land which creates a natural boundary between Europe and Asia, for centuries Chechnya had been a sharp bone in Russia's throat. Three years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, frustrated by the continued presence of the independence movement within Chechnya, Russia invaded.It was a war of extraordinary brutality. It turned Lana's mother, Natalia Estemirova, from a teacher into a human rights investigator. She became a dedicated member of Memorial, intent on exposing the kidnappings, bombings, torture and murders committed by Russian forces and Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-backed Chechen President. Natalia Estemirova's life, assassination, and the impunity that followed it, tell the story of Putin's Russia. This is Lana's story of growing up in a war. Of the intense bond between a mother and daughter, desperate to be together even though it was so much safer for Lana to live elsewhere, often for months at a time. It is a book both about being brave and about being ordinary in extraordinary times. It's the fulfilment of a promise Lana made at her mother's grave.

Lana was born on on 3 March 1994 in a dilapidated hospital on the outskirts of Yekaterinburg, Russia, thousands of miles away from Chechnya, the place that would become her real home, a place that was just months away from war. Fifteen years later, her mother was abducted and murdered.A mountainous slither of land which creates a natural boundary between Europe and Asia, for centuries Chechnya had been a sharp bone in Russia's throat. Three years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Yeltsin Administration, frustrated by the continued presence of the independence movement within Chechnya, Russia invaded.It was a war of extraordinary brutality. It turned Lana's mother, Natalia Estemirova, from a teacher into a human rights investigator. As a member of MEMORIAL she was intent on exposing the kidnappings, bombings, torture and murders committed by Russian forces - and by Ramzan Kadyrov, the Chechen dictator now involved with the Russian army. Working hand-in-glove with Anna Politkovskaya and Stanislav Markelov, amongst many brave others, Natalia Estemirova also wrote for Novaya Gazeta, further focusing the world's attention on what was happening. Tragically, Anna Politkovskaya and Stanislav Markelov were each murdered in retaliation for their work, and on the 15th of July 2009 Natalia Estemirova was abducted from outside her Grozny apartment block and killed.This is Lana's story of growing up in a war. Of the intense bond between a mother and daughter, navigating a need to be together while knowing that safety meant living apart, often for months at a time. It is a book both about being brave and about being ordinary in extraordinary times. It's the fulfilment of a promise she made at her mother's grave.

A RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK 'Powerful . . . a coming-of-age story with a twist' Guardian'Heart-wrenching . . . We need accounts like this haunting, compelling book' Telegraph'A profound and moving tribute . . . It is Lana's inside perspective on what it was like to grow up within this society that makes this such a unique and powerful book' Sunday Times'Wonderfully brave, beautifully written and utterly authentic' TLS'Haunting' Radio Times'Please live' were the last words fifteen-year-old Lana said to her mother. Shortly afterwards Natalia Estemirova was kidnapped outside their apartment block in Grozny, Chechnya. On 15th July 2009, she was murdered for telling the truth. A mountainous sliver of land which creates a natural boundary between Europe and Asia, for centuries Chechnya had been a sharp bone in Russia's throat. Three years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, frustrated by the continued presence of the independence movement within Chechnya, Russia invaded.It was a war of extraordinary brutality. It turned Lana's mother, Natalia Estemirova, from a teacher into a human rights investigator. She became a dedicated member of Memorial, intent on exposing the kidnappings, bombings, torture and murders committed by Russian forces and Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-backed Chechen President. Natalia Estemirova's life, assassination, and the impunity that followed it, tell the story of Putin's Russia. This is Lana's story of growing up in a war. Of the intense bond between a mother and daughter, desperate to be together even though it was so much safer for Lana to live elsewhere, often for months at a time. It is a book both about being brave and about being ordinary in extraordinary times. It's the fulfilment of a promise Lana made at her mother's grave.