About the book: 2015 / Usually critics write about actresses like this: “She has such a gift for transformation that satirical and dramatic roles are equally accessible to her.” But many professional actors can do this. Ranevskaya’s talent went far beyond ordinary professionalism. She was called an actress-clown, an actress for a tragedy, and even a “grand coquette” (“la grande coquette” translated from French - a temptress, a big coquette). “Ranevskaya’s heroines - villains, prudes, eccentrics - are emotional to the point of clear frankness,” wrote famous film critic Andrei Zorkiy. – It’s always clear what they feel, and there are no painful pauses in the experience. Forty times they will tell you: here is grief - so sorrow, here is arrogance - so arrogance, here is hypocrisy - so hypocrisy, here is kindness - so kindness. Such is the range of Ranevskaya’s acting talent, her one and only world».