Book of the Year – Financial Times and Herald

'Enthralling debut ... The scene-setting is colourful and precise, from steaming bowls of buckwheat porridge to snowflakes dancing in a blizzard, and Maria Wiltshire’s evocative translation adds an extra layer of enjoyment' - Financial Times, the best in thrillers

'A brutal, dark and penetrating look at what humans are capable of under duress ... plot is well-paced and twisty. Of course, it’s a particularly powerful story in the time of Covid' - Christena Appleyard, Daily Mail

Yana Vagner lives in Moscow with her husband, teenage son and three dogs. She started writing To the Lake as a weekly blog, at a time when a flu epidemic swept through Moscow, and the story had already attracted thousands of readers before it was turned into a best-selling novel in Russia.