From the moment she goes to nursery school in the Soviet Union of the 1960s, Elena Gorokhova begins to rebel against being part of the collective and is threatened by the redoubtable Aunt Polya, with a dvoika, in behaviour.

And as she progresses to proper school she knows that membership of the Young Pioneers and later the Komsomol awaits her as it awaits all her fellow students.

Read by Sian Thomas
A Jane Marshall Production for BBC Radio 4. Show less