Catherine Merridale, "Moscow Underground" (HarperColins, 2025)

Sep 1, 2025

Catherine Merridale, a writer and historian renowned for her expertise on Russia and the Soviet Union, discusses her latest novel, 'Moscow Underground'. She shares insights on the turbulent social and political shifts during Stalin's regime, particularly through the lens of Moscow's subway system. Merridale also reflects on her transition from historical research to fiction, weaving rich narratives and personal tales into the complexities of Stalinism. The conversation touches on the significance of food and survival in the 1930s, offering a vivid portrayal of resilience amidst hardship.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Books

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

Fiction As Historical Workaround

Catherine Merridale turned to fiction because current political conditions block archival research in Russia.
She used memories and oral histories to keep historical truth alive through novel form.

ADVICE

Use Genre To Lure Readers Into History

Use popular, consoling structures like detective fiction to make difficult historical periods accessible.
Choose genres that offer readers narrative satisfaction to encourage voluntary engagement with dark topics.

ANECDOTE

Early Oral History Encounters

Merridale began oral-history interviewing in 1991 and found long queues of survivors eager to tell their stories.
Those early interviews supplied vivid personal details that she later wove into her novel's voice and scenes.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

Moscow Underground (HarperCollins, 2025) by Dr. Catherine Merridale is a sweeping novel of life, death and politics in the quicksand world of Stalin's tyranny.

Moscow's glittering new subway is under construction at last. The first line will run through the centre of the city, cutting deep through Moscow soil. But futures cannot be created without digging up the past. Though Russia's leaders want to build a glorious Soviet capital, what holds them in a fatal grip is history: old mud and bones.

Anton Belkin is an Investigator at the Procuracy, a sensitive job at a dangerous moment on the road to the Show Trials. He is also someone who needs to keep his head down. His artist father was once the darling of the revolutionary avant-garde, a painter whose work could inspire devotion and great sacrifice. But now his dreams are out of place, too loud and red in Stalin's world of sterile rules and rubber stamps.

Anton is dragged into a murder case. A prominent archaeologist, working alongside the subway dig, has been killed in a deserted mansion. Though Anton doesn't want the job, his former lover, Vika, who is now a powerful member of the secret police, browbeats him into paying a visit to the site with her. Against his better judgement he is drawn to follow though, embarking on investigations that will almost certainly get him killed.

Deep underground, he finds a priceless secret that could genuinely unlock the future but links him to a vicious internecine fight for power in the young Soviet state. In the process, he is forced to reconsider the history he shares with Vika and the bonds that bind them both.

This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda’s interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/historical-fiction