Iulian Ciocan’s novel, Before Brezhnev Died, is set in the Soviet Socialist Republic of Moldavia during the twilight of the decrepit Brezhnev regime. A pensioner seeks justice for his dead wife, crushed by a falling crane, but comes up against hostility from a cynical system – at best indifferent, at worst, contemptuous of human life. Enjoy this excerpt reading, translated from Romanian by Alistair Ian Blyth, performed by Jacob Stovall.