Explore a real-life location from The Girl from Moscow’s Edge using Google Street View. Just click on the picture of the spot, and it will open up so you can “walk” the streets yourself.
Podolsk
Podolsk is a real town I picked mostly because its name is simple enough for English speakers to pronounce. Take a stroll through the town center here.
Khrushchyovkas
“…Like many satellite towns around Moscow, Podolsk had its fair share of Khrushchyovkas and Brezhnevkas, Soviet leaders immortalized in the nicknames for poorly designed apartment buildings. Ugly, gray, and utilitarian, they surrounded the two-story gray brick building of the hostel, which sat in snowbanks like a sick pigeon.”
The infamous Soviet-era Khrushchyovkas dot every Russian city, and Podolsk is no exception. Click to wander a typical courtyard in an older residential neighborhood.
Cafeteria near the detention center
“…He opened the door to a place called Cafeteria Rosinka. They proceeded across the mud-splattered linoleum with a woodgrain pattern and joined people dragging red plastic trays across the distribution line.”
I used a real café for the scene where Zoya meets with her lawyer to discuss her mother’s case. Here’s what it looks like.
Detention center “Butirka”
“…They were in one of the central neighborhoods, just one intersection from Lesnaya Street with its expensive apartments, only a few kilometers from Moscow City Hall. There was no way it was the infamous prison Zoya heard about from the news and friends.
“That’s it,” Pavel confirmed. “I don’t come here for work often.”
Probably the most notorious prison in Moscow. Sadly, Google Street View only captures a small slice of the entrance, but you can still see how oddly this prison sits right in the middle of the city.
Bonus
A few glimpses of Butirka not available on Street View—including the bizarre “motivational” signs hanging inside the prison (I wish I made it up—except I didn’t!)
“…They stepped onto the detention center grounds and crossed a short distance to the first checkpoint, where Pavel handed a bunch of papers to the person in a window behind the barred glass.
Zoya eyed a white-brick tower to their left—round, with a toothed top, straight out of a children’s book.
She leaned toward Pavel. “Why does it look like a hrenov—hrenov castle?”
“It is a castle.” He kept throwing glances at the document window. “One of the few prison castles in the world that have survived to this day with minor changes.””
“…At one of the security points, the gate had an imposing sign with bold red words: Life is a thrilling journey toward one’s destiny.
“Are you kidding me?” Zoya mumbled.”
The sign below: “Love of freedom is the flower of the prison, and only in prison do you truly feel the value of freedom.”
Let me know what you think about the tour, and whether I managed to convey the feeling of the setting in the book!