Stella talked to me several times of Osh. She did so as someone who had never visited the city, even though it is just one hour by bus southwest of Uzgen, the town where she lived in the Fergana Valley. She would speak the city’s name in a whisper, prolonging the “sh” and then pausing for a beat. The effect was to make “Osh” sound like a dangerous hex.
Osh is the largest city in the Kyrgyz portion of the Fergana Valley. Because of its relatively advanced medical facilities, it was where her mother Lola Freud – now desperately unwell – had gone for tests in December of 1943. She had required special permission from the Soviet authorities, as was then customary, to set foot outside the Uzgen district. Lola didn’t inform her daughters about the precise reason for her trip. But Stella realised that it had to be for something serious, as Lola was gone for a week.
When Lola returned, she looked like a shadow of herself. She smiled wanly at Stella, murmuring feebly that she was fine. But she also told her that she was feeling very tired and needed some rest. All Stella knew was that her mother’s health was...
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