I know, I know. You picked up a Russian novel—maybe Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, or someone edgy and modern like Vladimir Sorokin—and two chapters in, you’re already lost in the thicket of names.

Explore real-life locations from The Girl from Moscow’s Edge using Google Street View

These portraits aren’t official illustrations—they’re a collection of random pictures I came across online that inspired the way I imagined my characters while writing