Monsieur Ka by Vesna Goldsworthy presents some problems if you know about Russian literature. The idea is that Alexei Karenin was a real person and in fact called Hartung; and as such supplied with many typically German character defects. Then his descendants move to London.
In fact, nobody has ever suggested that Alexei Karenin was based on a real person. He’s just a senior civil servant, and we know about them. Anna Karenina on the other hand is thought to have a variety of prototypes. In particular, many think that her appearance and manner (not character or fate) were taken from Mariya Hartung (nee Pushkina).
She was the daughter of Alexander Pushkin, Russia’s national poet killed in an untimely duel. After which the Russians began to feel very guilty so that even sitting next to one of his children at the opera became a mark of distinction. And so to a Russian the Karenin/Hartung family would radiate divinity rather than Germanic awfulness.
More widely, a lot of what is interesting in Goldsworthy’s presentation of the alienation experienced by European exiles in London comes not from her but from A Novel of London by Milos Crnjanski. To be fair, she acknowledges this. Now A Novel of London is a very good book indeed, if not exactly short.
Returning to Monsieur Ka, a friend writes: I’m afraid I’m not as critical as you and enjoyed the film references (e.g. Vivien Leigh, Cecil Beaton). And I certainly admit to complete ignorance regarding film references, especially of that era.
Notes of an idealist 