The book
Moscow Diary
A personal diary of an American woman making a home in the Russian capital. It is for the reader who wants company through a real life — daily Moscow, Russian culture, the table, and the places she loves — rather than another argument conducted from a distance.
English edition published by Amazon.com, ISBN 979-8340211118. The Russian edition is published by Ridero, ISBN 978-5-0064-8702-4.
What you are invited into
Francesca is clear about the form, and a reader deserves the same clarity. This is her experience: the challenges, the surprises, the humor, and the people who changed her experience of the country. History and practical life appear when she needs them, the way they appear for any resident, in the middle of a day.
The days themselves, the meals, the manners of a Russian house, and the rooms and parks she would share with a friend belong to the diary. On this site you can meet the woman who wrote them down, and decide whether you want to go in with her.
Why it is worth your evening
Plenty of books will tell you what to think about Russia. Very few are written by an American of long experience — seasoned, unsentimental, still game — who pays her own bills in Moscow and likes the neighbors. She has a conservative temperament and a traveler’s eye. She is not trying to recruit you. She is trying to show you the street.
Readers who loved a great city once, and then left it, will feel a kinship with her before they agree with her. So will readers who are tired of being rushed. She takes the long way around a question, because the question — what is a life in Russia actually like? — cannot be answered in a headline.
Who will feel at home with it
The skeptical reader
You have noticed that the news and a country are not the same thing. You would like a witness who lives there, and who is willing to be precise.
The reader of lives
You like memoir when it has kitchens, errands, friendships, and a person you can imagine sitting beside. You do not need a thesis first.
The reader who may go
You are curious about Moscow itself: how a foreigner manages, what the culture asks of a guest, how residents indulge their passions. She has walked that path and kept the notes.
The Russian reader
You are curious what an American sees when she stays, and why she is glad she did. She wrote with you in mind as well. She would like the looking to go both ways.
Doors she leaves closed, until the book
An ordinary week
How a newcomer moves, shops, and finds her feet in a capital of 970 square miles and thirteen million residents. She kept the record. It is the heart of the diary, and its particulars are saved for you.
The people
Friends who urged her to come, and how the extraordinary kindness of strangers touched her deeply. Their stories are hers to tell, in full, in their place.
Culture, up close
She found a society that says “we” where she had been taught to say “I.” How that “we” sounds at a table, and on the street. How “we” permeates all of life was the mystery she decided to explore.
The table
She has always cared about food: markets, home cooking, a dinner that turns into a friendship. Moscow gave her a new cuisine to love. The particulars are saved for you.
The city
Museums, music, gardens, and metro stations built as palaces. She details a quality of life that is unsurpassed. A Russian historian compiled a list of books about Russia that is listed in the book.
Readers who already have the book
From people who bought the paperback.
5 out of 5 stars
Positive perspective by an American living in Moscow
This book is an easy read and provides information, history and a positive perspective on Russia and its people. It is an interesting contrast to what is in the US news on a daily basis. I recommend this book to learn more about life in Russia today.
James K. · United States · October 27, 2024
4 out of 5 stars
Life in Moscow today
A very readable view of life in Moscow for an American. Good insight into the average Russian of today by a very bright and observant American transplant. Ms. Bardin has lived in Los Angeles, Paris and now resides in Moscow. I gained valuable knowledge about a country which most Americans know little. Very worth a read.
Macho333 · United States · October 14, 2024
5 out of 5 stars
Great read! Thank you
I really enjoyed the book! It is full of great information for those interested in going to or living in Moscow. From simple every day struggles to Russian history, I enjoyed it all. The help she received from strangers was surprising, in a good way! I hope that one day we also will have stories like this to tell.
Neato burrito · United States · September 11, 2026
5 out of 5 stars
Fresh unbiased perspective and fun read
Fun, honest and open minded
Natalia · United States · September 10, 2026
5 out of 5 stars
Import reference book for Russia.
Excellent read! Very informative book!
Adam Toews · Canada · September 21, 2026