I’m sure I would have been a wanted child, conceived in love, if Thekla had survived the era that was no longer hers, if Stasia had been allowed to follow Peter Vasilyev, if Ramas Iosebidze had prevented his wife from removing her mask at the New Year’s ball, if Ida had conquered hope, if my grandfather had found the door between sea and horizon and opened it, if operating tables had not been used in schoolrooms, if Andro Eristavi had learned that, as a consequence of his mistaken beliefs, a child was ripped from Kitty’s womb, if Kitty had kept Death at bay, if she had stayed, if the world had
...more
