Patriot: A Memoir by Alexei Navalny

 

  Life plays amazing tricks on me. I often donate books to Little Free Libraries, but I seldom take any from these libraries. On December 28, 2024, I told my family that I would like to read Alexei Navalny’s book. Two days later, I checked a Little Free Library located 45 minutes away from where I live. To this date, I do not know what made me check that Little Free Library. I was by myself, so nobody encouraged me to do so. It was astonishing to meet Navalny’s blue eyes on the vibrant book cover of a hardcover somebody had left behind. Yes, I found his book right there.

To say that I was in awe is an understatement.

 The book is brand new. I think somebody may have received it as a Christmas gift and may have passed it on without reading it. I think it is fair to say that somebody’s apathy became my gift, and it is not just a gift but it is also a great responsibility.

  Reading Patriot is an immersive, fascinating experience. It made me laugh and cry, and it connected me to this man’s humanity, kindness and intelligence. It is the kind of book that stays with you long after you finish it. I like to re-read parts of it and I scribble notes to reflect on his wisdom, experiences and ideas.

  The book starts with his experience of being poisoned in August 2020 with the Novichok nerve agent. Because of this he was hospitalized in an intensive care unit in Berlin; he required a period of rehabilitation in Germany to recover.

 Alexei Navalny’s writing then goes back in time to the years of his childhood and youth. He shares the social, cultural and political context of his childhood and youth. Furthermore, he reveals the challenges he faced when he attended university.

  His writing style is riveting and friendly. As I read his book, I experienced a certain familiarity with the author. I felt he was like a friend to me; he is the kind of person I would be happy to spend hours chatting with about life, history and anything else.

    As a reader, you will get to know him well. Every anecdote he shares helps us to understand him as a person. I have the feeling that I have known him all my life.

 The horrifying experience of being poisoned did not dissuade him from returning to Russia in January 2021. Soon after he landed on Russia, however, he was detained, a reminder that Putin’s regime operates with total impunity.

   Alexei was kind, fearless and courageous in every situation. His honesty and transparency united people who wanted to stand up against the tyranny of Vladimir Putin, a man who behaves like a king. Over the years Putin has crumbled the economy and future of his country to abuse his power and to serve the interests of the oligarchy.

  I appreciate the way Alexei Navalny describes what Putin has done to the economy in Russia. Navalny does not mince words when he unveils the incompetence of Putin: “Putin has stolen the last twenty years of Russia. He could have used these years to turn Russia into a prosperous country. All of us could have lived better. Instead, twenty million people live below the poverty line. Part of the money Putin and his cronies simply stole was squandered. They did nothing good for our country, and that is their worst crime against our children and the country’s future.”

  The Kremlin wanted to make Navalny feel that he was alone, isolated and lonely. He was not. Navalny counted on the solidarity and support of millions of people who valued his work. The solidarity and support he received are a testament to his bravery and kindness. To learn the details of Navalny’s work, I encourage you to read Patriot. His book delves into the details of his work. I was greatly impressed by how he consistently worked with his team to unmask the corruption under Putin’s regime.

  Alexei Navalny had to deal with the forces of an authoritarian regime that tried to silence and demoralize him. Yet Navalny never surrendered to fear. The history of his country is one of the interesting aspects of this book: “Throughout our history we have had tsars, then emperors, then general secretaries, then presidents, and all of them have been authoritarian. We can’t go on like that.”

 Alexei Navalny was a peaceful warrior whose only weapons were the truth and the facts. He and his team exposed the corruption of the regime through videos and blog posts. Millions of people appreciated his work, not only online but also the work he did by meeting people from all walks of life to communicate with them in-person. 

  Truth and facts endowed Alexei Navalny with inner strength, courage and resilience. These qualities helped him deal with the cruelty of his imprisonment, which was like a kind of “concentration camp” during the last years of his life.

  The torture and atrocities that he was able to document in those prisons during the last months of his life left me speechless.

  Under Putin’s regime Alexei Navalny was falsely charged with acts he never committed. The falsehoods were spread by Russian Television, which promotes Putin's propaganda. 

 The European Court of Human Rights declared that Navalny was innocent and demanded his release several times to no avail.

   Alexei Navalny also reveals the reason why Putin invaded Ukraine. Putin used the war on Ukraine to distract people from the disastrous situation in Russia: the economic stagnation, rising prices and rampant lawlessness under Putin’s regime in Russia were a threat to Putin’s power. Putin wanted to cover up this situation by creating a distraction, so he invaded Ukraine.  

  Navalny explains that Putin used his imperial mindset to distract people and to manipulate Russians into supporting the violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty. Putin persecutes those who try to speak up against the injustices and oppression of Russia's current regime. Yet Trump has referred to Putin as a “genius” and he considers Vladimir Putin his “friend.” It is disturbing, albeit not surprising, to see that Donald Trump supports Putin’s interests and that he repeats Putin’s narrative. It was deeply distressing and unsettling to witness Donald Trump blaming Zelensky for the war in Ukraine.

  I urge every American citizen to read Patriot by Alexei Navalny. It will help Americans to awaken to the truth and to understand what is at stake in the United States of America and the world.

  Alexei Navalny’s integrity shines through his behaviors and words, and it is also alive in the behaviors of his family. Also, his brother, Oleg, is a hero and you will find out more about him in his book.

 The injustices that Alexei and his family had to go through will cause outrage, but it is my hope that his book will raise awareness on the need to work to preserve democratic principles and to understand the need for fair elections to protect democracy.

  I was in awe to read that Navalny always sought the slivers of light and hope in the darkest situations he faced. His sense of humor was irresistible, and he always found an opportunity to learn something new and move forward through every challenge. The positive attitude in his book reminded me of the character in the movie Life is beautiful in which the father tries to create a bubble of hope and joy for his son amid the despair and constraints of a concentration camp.

  It is hard not to shed tears as I write about Navalny. He was only forty-seven years old when he lost his life for simply standing up to injustice. Alexei Navalny’s indomitable, joyful, resilient spirit is a gift to humanity, a legacy that will continue to inspire generations of people as long as we keep his memory alive. Navalny’s steady, peaceful fight will live on in the hearts and minds of those who believe in democratic principles and the Rule of Law.

 Alexei Navalny’s wife, Yulia, continues his work. She shares his enthusiasm, inspiration and zest for life. I found this brief interview with Yulia Navalnaya from PBS here.

  I also want to share this powerful statement by Alexei Navalny from his book Patriot: “It is very important not to be fearful of people who are seeking the truth, and perhaps even to find ways of supporting them, directly, indirectly, perhaps even not supporting them, but at least not contributing to the deceit, not making the world around you a worse place.”

 Alexei Navalny was an activist, lawyer, blogger, journalist and a Russian opposition leader and anti-corruption campaigner. He was imprisoned for no reason other than the fact that he stood up against tyranny and the actions of a dictator. His many international honors included the Sakharov Prize, the European Parliament’s annual human rights prize; the Courage Award from the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy; and the Dresden Peace Prize, among others. Navalny appeared on Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People” and “25 Most Influential People on the internet” lists.    

Relevant links:

https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-russia-trump-war-zelenskyy-putin-7fe8c0c80b4e93e3bc079c621a44e8bb

 https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2025/02/27/donald-trump-and-the-putinization-of-american-politics_6738649_4.html#

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/15/google-helped-facilitate-russia-china-censorship-requests

 https://www.brookings.edu/articles/merkels-lack-of-regrets-illustrates-the-fallacies-of-germanys-russia-policy/

Interview With Author Diana Stevan

 

Julia: What is Along Came a Gardener about? What makes it unique?

Diana: My non-fiction book, based on my 25 years as a family therapist, is unique because the thoughts and experiences I share are woven in with the lessons I found in gardening and nature.  I also reveal my own stumbles, and I do it to demonstrate how important it is to be kind to ourselves and not feel bad when we can’t figure things out or our lives are not going as well as we had hoped. I hope the stories in my book will inspire others to make some positive changes in their life.

 

Julia: You have written several novels and poetry. What inspired you to write this non-fiction book?

Diana: I was inspired to write this book back in the late 1970s. I was working as a school psychologist then and a high school guidance counsellor had referred a couple of sisters to me for counselling. They were brilliant students but were failing. The oldest had attempted suicide. I tried family counselling, but the mother was mentally ill, so it wasn’t possible to continue. So I saw the sisters together and not long after I started seeing them in therapy, the oldest wrote me a poem, titled “The Seed of Hope” and in it, I was the gardener who had come along and planted it.

Her poem gave me an idea for a book based on my work as a psychotherapist. I started writing it shortly after I had finished my sessions with the sisters, but as a wife and mother of two, there wasn’t much time for writing. I’m glad I waited, as I wasn’t ready to write this book.

Julia: What were the challenges you encountered when writing your book? How did you deal with them?

Diana: Well, I kept wondering if I could do justice to what I had experienced. I was so grateful for the trust that many had put in me over the years, and I wanted to honour that trust. As you know, counselling is a confidential service, so I was mindful to be respectful and maintain those confidences. So, names were not divulged nor anything else that might identify those I’d seen in therapy. I also had the help of three professional therapists who read my book beforehand, and I was relieved to get their approval.

 

Julia: What are the greatest setbacks and ordeals you've dealt with as a therapist? How did you navigate those challenges?

Diana: The greatest ordeals I experienced as a therapist were conflicts with other professionals in the workplace. My first job after getting my Master of Social Work in 1972 was in a psychiatric ward at Winnipeg General Hospital (Health Sciences Center today). I was stunned to discover electric shock therapy was being routinely prescribed for patients with depression. I didn’t think patients had been given enough time to tell their story, the one that had resulted in them ending up on a psychiatric ward. Since I wasn’t a psychiatrist, the decision to give a patient shock treatment was a hard decision to challenge. Hospital beds were at a premium and the psychiatric staff were pressured to discharge patients as quickly as possible. Still, I made my observations known. At the time, I didn’t realize how naïve I was, and how I had overstepped those professional boundaries. So, it’s not surprising I didn’t make a lot of friends amongst the staff who were used to treating patients this way.

Another challenge I had took place in a different workplace. I was sexually harassed by the director of the agency.  After an incident where he had made sexual remarks to me in front of a team of counsellors, I went to his office and confronted him. I told him how uncomfortable it had made me feel, how inappropriate his comments had been and told him to never do it again. He didn’t.

And there was one patient who had been discharged from hospital who called me up in the middle of the night threatening to commit suicide. I was trained to take these threats seriously, so I got dressed and went out to meet him at a cafe. I gave him the support he needed over a cup of coffee. It sounds simple, but it wasn’t. Thankfully, I had established a rapport with him while he was in hospital, and he trusted me.

 

Julia: Would you like to share a personal experience that helped you to change and grow as a human being?

Diana: Training to be a family therapist was an eye-opening experience. I read everything available on family communication. It’s one thing to read it; it’s another to put it into practice. In order to be a good therapist, you have to work on yourself as well. Over the years, the knowledge I gained through my training and work with others dealing with family conflict helped me grow as a human being. I write about this experience, including my missteps, and more in my book.

Julia: Is there anything else you would like to mention about the book?

Diana: Because I also have a Bachelor of Science in Home Economics degree, I included a chapter on diet and nutrition. I’ve always tried to practice holistically. In fact, I attended the first Holistic Conference in Vancouver back in 1979. We have so much to deal with to maintain our mental and physical health, so I felt I had to mention the obvious in my book: the importance of diet, nutrition, exercise, and sleep.

Since I also gave stress management and anger management workshops during my career as a psychotherapist, I share helpful ideas from those times in Along Came A Gardener.

I’m hoping readers will find Along Came A Gardener inspirational and feel less alone in the complicated world we live in.

Thank you again, Julia. It’s been a pleasure sharing what’s inside my new publication with you.

Julia: Thank you so much for sharing your experience and words of wisdom at My Writing Life blog: Awareness, Reflection, Inspiration, and I wish you all the best with the new book release.

  A former family therapist, Diana Stevan has published poetry and five novels: A Cry from the Deep, The Rubber Fence, Sunflowers Under Fire, Lilacs in the Dust Bowl, and Paper Roses on Stoney Mountain.

  Along Came a Gardener, non-fiction, is her latest book. She resides with her husband on Vancouver Island.

 

The Life of Elves by Muriel Barbery

 

 Clara and Maria are gifted with the talents of empathy, intuition, clairvoyance and creative expression. They share an intimate communication and connection with the natural world that surrounds them. Maria lives in Burgundy, France; Clara lives in Italy. She is originally from the Abruzzo.

 Even though the girls live away from each other the communication between them goes beyond the realm of words…

  I appreciate the delicate style through which Barbery describes her characters. For example, I will offer a glimpse into the character of Maria from page 86:

 “And yet Maria was close to the religion of poetry every day, whenever she climbed a tree or listened to the song of the branches and foliage. Very early on she had understood that other people went about the countryside as if they were blind and deaf, and the symphonies she heard and the tableaux she embraced were, to them, mere sounds of nature and mute landscapes. When she wandered through her fields and woods she was in constant contact with a material tide in the form of intangible but visible lines which enabled her to know the movement and radiation of things, and if in winter she liked to go to the oak trees in the combe in the neighboring field, it was because the three trees liked winter too, and made vibrant sketches whose strokes and curves she could see as if they were an engraving embodied in the air by a master’s hand. Moreover, Maria conversed not only with matter, but also with the creatures of the land.”

  How can the enhanced perceptions and sensitivities of their human souls help them face the threat of war? What role do they play in the fight between oppression and freedom?

 The Life of Elves is a tribute to the bond between art, empathy and Nature. I appreciate the mystical quality of the prose.

  Metaphors and descriptions paint dream-like scenes that become timeless and intriguing to the reader. Unlike The Elegance of the Hedgehog, this story contains elements of fantasy. 

  The author offers an introspective outlook about some of the characters. Muriel Barbery unearths the gems that are concealed under the superficial façade of everyday life, and she does so with artistry. She did this in The Elegance of the Hedgehog and she conveys a similar message in The Life of Elves. For example, read the description of Leonora Acciavalti and draw your own conclusions about it:

  “… while the guests dined, their gazes followed the network of curving lines embraced by her gestures, and when they left they took away with them some of Leonora’s grace: she may not have been beautiful, but they found her sublime…”

Muriel Barbery describes Leonora as a “world unto herself.”

 “Her caste had betrothed her to the role of bored heiress, but fate had made a daydreamer of her, gifted with otherworldly power, to such good effect that in her presence you felt as if a window onto infinity had been opened, and you understood that it was by delving into yourself that you escaped imprisonment.”

    There is a story buried in a world of dream-like descriptions, metaphors and introspective reflections. However, the conflict and plot do not appear well-defined. The plot rolls on  subtle waves of undertones. It is blurred by the poetical prose and the ramblings, which become monotonous at times. It takes patience and attention to remember the endless list of characters, both elves and humans.

  Some features of the story irritated me as a reader. Why are some of the characters always drinking wine? I do not see the significance of this or the need to incorporate it. The author appears to be obsessed with the act of drinking wine and with hunting. I think these obsessions tainted the beauty of the story and appeared to be at odds with the essence of the tale. There were times when I wanted to quit the read, but I kept reading. I was hopeful that something important would happen, but it never did. 

  The unique descriptions of some of the characters and the reflections the author threads into the narrative aroused my curiosity, but the story did not deliver its full potential. It did not satisfy my expectations.

  I recommend the story to poetry lovers with the patience and time to lose themselves in the lyrical narrative, the epiphanies and perceptions. Reading this book is a personal journey, and it may require more than one read to gain a deep exploration and understanding of it. It may illuminate something inside your own conscience or it may not. It may awaken something to which you have been indifferent, or it may simply not be for you. I reveled in the magical nature of the descriptions, but I was left asking for more…

 

 The photographs of the landscapes are from unsplash.com