Summary

In “The Ermine Coat,” Milena Markivna has been living with Larissa for two years. (A line of narration in "Lucky Toss" implies that they might be lovers.) They live in an apartment in 1933 Ivansk Street. The Soviet Union has collapsed. For a few months, Milena and Larissa sewed fur coats to be sold on the ‘black market.’ This story is narrated by the older of Larrisa’s two daughters. The narrator is still a child. She appears to be unaware of the likelihood that Milena and Larissa are lovers. Larissa now works at a chemical plant, and Milena cleans floors at a lamp factory. One day a man named Volkov visits with strips of ermine fur. Volkov was the man who previously paid Milena and Larissa to sew fur coats. The narrator is always impressed by the fact that Volkov...