The Wizard of the Kremlin by Giuliano da Empoli

Filled with real political insight and intrigue, this thrilling novel explores the nature of power through the inner workings of Putin’s regime.

Known as the “Wizard of the Kremlin,” the enigmatic Vadim Baranov was a TV producer before becoming a political advisor to Putin, aka “The Czar.” After his resignation from this position, legends about him multiply, with no one able to distinguish truth from fiction. Until one night, when he tells his story to the narrator of this book…

He immerses us in the heart of the Russian state, where sycophants and oligarchs have been engaging in open warfare, and where Vadim, now the regime’s main spin doctor, turns an entire country into an avant-garde political stage. Yet Vadim is not as ambitious as the others. Entangled in the increasingly dark secrets of the regime he has helped create, he will do anything to get out, guided by the memory of his grandfather, an eccentric aristocrat who survived the Revolution, and the mesmerizing, merciless Ksenia, whom he has fallen in love with.

Giuliano da Empoli, once a senior advisor to Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi, draws on his experience behind the scenes to create an authentic, compelling portrait of power and how it corrupts.

Story Locale: Russia

Giuliano da Empoli is an Italian and Swiss writer and journalist. He was Deputy Mayor for Culture in Florence and a senior advisor to Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi. He has been a contributor and columnist for such publications as Corriere della Sera, La Repubblica, Il Sole 24 Ore, and Il Riformista. Since the publication of his first book at the age of twenty-two, he has published eleven more books on the economy and its social and political consequences. The Wizard of the Kremlin won the Grand Prix du Roman and was a finalist for the Goncourt Prize.

Willard Wood grew up in France and has translated more than thirty works of fiction and nonfiction from the French. He has won the Lewis Galantière Award for Literary Translation and received a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Translation. His recent translations include Camille de Toledo’s Theseus, His New Life (Other Press 2023) and Patrick Boucheron’s Trace and Aura (Other Press 2022). He lives in Norfolk, Connecticut.

Author Residence: Paris, France

Author Hometown: Paris, France