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  • The Half Life of Valery K

  • By: Natasha Pulley
  • Narrated by: Jot Davies
  • Length: 12 hrs and 40 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (196 ratings)
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The Half Life of Valery K

By: Natasha Pulley
Narrated by: Jot Davies
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Summary

Bloomsbury presents The Half Life of Valery K by Natasha Pulley, read by Jot Davies.

The truth must come out.

In 1963, in a Siberian gulag, former nuclear specialist Valery Kolkhanov has mastered what it takes to survive: the right connections to the guards for access to food and cigarettes, the right pair of warm boots to avoid frostbite and the right attitude toward the small pleasures of life. But on one ordinary day, all that changes: Valery’s university mentor steps in and sweeps Valery from the frozen prison camp to a mysterious unnamed town hidden within a forest so damaged it looks like the trees have rusted from within.

Here, Valery is Dr. Kolkhanov once more, and he’s expected to serve out his prison term studying the effect of radiation on local animals. But as Valery begins his work, he is struck by the questions his research raises: what, exactly, is being hidden from the thousands who live in the town? And if he keeps looking for answers, will he live to serve out his sentence?

Based on real events in a surreal Soviet city, and told with bestselling author Natasha Pulley’s inimitable style, The Half Life of Valery K is a sweeping historical adventure.

©2022 Natasha Pulley (P)2022 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: LGBTQ+

Critic reviews

"Pulley adds to her impressive oeuvre with another exquisite novel. Many of the author’s trademarks are on display here: a finely-drawn period setting, a vein of dark humour, a plot blending historical fact and fiction, and a protagonist seeking to do the right thing in the face of a brutal political machine. An illuminating and immersive historical tale." (Vaseem Khan)

"Her dark humor, which turns on the blind faith given to Soviet authority figures despite their outlandish claims, combines with complex characters and a clear understanding of radiation science to yield an explosive blend. The chilling result feels all too plausible."(Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about The Half Life of Valery K

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Loved every minute

At this point, Natasha Pulley could publish her shopping list and I'd rave about it, so I think it's fair to say I went in ready to be swept off my feet. It's her first one that has no magic at all to it - as she said herself, radioactivity is weird enough on its own, and while I was a bit apprehensive about that (because I love the magic, not gonna lie), I think she was right. It stands beautifully on its own without any magic at all.

It must be difficult to publish a book about Russia in 2022; even more so having written a book about Russia in 2021 and watching world events unfold as you preparing for the publication of this book. It didn't distract me from the story at all, however. It's set in Russia, of course, and the characters are Russians, but first and foremost it's a story about universal human things that could in a similar form be set anywhere. So if you've been hesitating to pick this up for this reason, please don't. You'd be missing out on a beautiful book.

She brings all her trademark features to play: the broken characters that have their light escaping at the seams, the wonderful worldbuilding, the masterful plot structure, the tender characterisation. Pulley just keeps getting better with every book that she writes, and it's such a shame that every book that she writes seems to receive a little less press than the one before. For me, she's one of the very few living auto-buy authors that I have.

If you loved The Kingdoms by the same author, if you enjoy warm and hopeful stories set in difficult times that never slip into being smarmy or feel-good, if you like stories dealing with adversity little by little one day at a time, still finding things to laugh and weep at; then this book is for you. There's a mystery to solve, but it's not a murder mystery; there's nucelar fission but it's not a science book; there are people falling in love but it's not a romance. It's all of these things, but its brilliance exceeds the sum of its parts. Do read it.

The only thing that did not quite work for me was the narrator - I was not a fan of his voice, and some of the characters were voiced oddly to my ears. But that's just personal preference.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Too bleak.

I couldn't finish it. There was nothing to engage with, just endless, monotonous bleakness. I enjoyed all Natasha Pulley's other books, so this was a great disappointment.

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7 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • 13
  • 29-09-22

Pulley doesn't disappoint!

Pulley has become one of those authors where the second I see she has a new book out I will be buying it without a moment's hesitation! I loved how this book dealt with horrifying topics (all the implications of what radioactive materials can do to a human) in a sensitive way without it being sensationalised or voyeuristic. I particularly appreciated the historical note at the end explaining what was fact and what was fiction. I also liked how she compared different philosophical standpoints without implying one perspective was necessarily the correct one. I also feel she gets the perfect balance of writing about gay characters and capturing the lived experiences of forbidden love in that era without it dominating the narrative or labouring the point of moral judgments about this. It was how it was and she captures the reality of this period beautifully with characters you feel a real kinship with. I can't wait to see what she writes next!

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4 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Incredibly amazing

Amazing no other words needed to describe the book... Over every possible expectation... Thank you for creating and writing my favourite novel

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Entertaining and smart. Read this now.

I have only high praise for this Natasha Pulley's novels. Based on available history and records, you're invited into a retelling that imagines and illustrates the lives of people, in families and institutions.
Through illustrating life in Soviet era Russia, we see the light and shade of people who addressed each other as comrade, were arrested in the night, and imprisoned in labour camps. We also see into the lives and minds of the people who made the arrests, and those who made the reports, and those who complied and stood by.
Themes of justice, post-traumatic distress, feminism, chemistry, and extremist politics are knitted into a page-turner. Queer characters are given voices within the narrative and resituated amidst the histories.
The Bloomsbury audio performance is full of warmth and character portrayals. Again, I have only high praise. Thank you, Natasha Pulley.

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Thoroughly enjoyed it!

Normally a Pulley fan but struggled with The Kingdoms so I was hopeful that this would suck me in - and it did!

I enjoyed the narrator, the variety of British accents instead of Eastern European ones tickled me.

*Spoilers ahead*

Won't go into much detail, except for the Afterword. I always find it so impressive to get to the end of these books that feel fanciful and fictitious for it to be revealed some things are actual occurrences, it's quite brilliant. It just edges on historical fiction as well as sci-fi in this case.

The only thing that didn't sit right with me was the romance, it became quickly apparent that Shenkov was going to be the love interest and it felt ... boring. As it was clear then that this would follow the theme of her other books. And it really didn't need to have any romance at all for the story to work, instead the story started to bend around the pair.

I felt awful on Anna this long suffering wife who didn't want kids, didn't want to work in this radioactive city and had terminal cancer all because of her husband who she must have known was gay after he got arrested in the first place.

For her to get written out at the end was harsh. Plus Constantine "I'd do anything for my kids" Shenkov not really commenting or making an effort to contact his children after the stink he made about having them was disappointing.

The whole English couple dinner was also just a weirdly placed message, just crammed in at the end.

However, another great read.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

didn't think I'd enjoy it much but I loved it!

I bought this mainly because I've loved all of Natasha Pulley's other books but I was expecting it to be a bit of a slog because I'm not a fan of prison fiction. It was surprisingly gripping though, with adventure, bone dry humour, and a fragile love story all intertwined with the grim reality of the Soviet era. I don't know how she does it but she can make the bleakest and sometimes dullest of scenarios become completely absorbing. Her depictions of times and places are incredibly vivid without getting bogged down in over-long descriptive passages. And because she is a generous writer all of the characters are given space to come to life and aren't just written off as good or bad or exist only as plot devices. Like her previous novels, the story doesn't flinch from darkness so it's definitely not sentimental but it is romantic and you care deeply about the characters, flawed as they are. I'm looking forward to seeing what she does next

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Russian radiation

Mixed bag, I think for me.

Great narration that brings life to this rather bleak novel, set in Russia.

If Gulags, KGB, oppression, radioactive experimentation, communist comradeship and other happy things are your go to then you will really like this.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Interesting novel about the USSR

Well told tale of what could have happened in the USSR and their nuclear program. It’s has an excellent personal as well as factual element. Throughly recommend this book to fellow readers.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

usual incredible high standard from natasha pulley

enjoyed immensely. this exciting and fascinating novel has (like author's other books) a really well founded historical / geographical / cultural basis clearly the result of deep research. the characters are flawed but sympathetic; human in both their failings and ability to engage the readers' emotions. married with a great plot and undodged moral quandaries these made for a rounded and fulfilling read.

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