Translation, foreword, and translator’s note copyright © 2022 by Bryan Karetnyk

Originally published in the Russian language as Obman copyright © 1930 by J. Povolozky & Cie., Paris

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Fel’zen, ÍÙrīĭ, author. | Karetnyk, Bryan, translator.

Title: Deceit : a novel / by Yuri Felsen ; translated by Bryan Karetnyk.

Other titles: Obman. English

Description: First edition. | New York : Astra House, [2022] | Summary: “Set in interwar Paris and taking the form of a diary, the novel relates the complex and fraught relationship between an unnamed narrator and his love interest and muse, the beguiling Lyolya Heard. Subtle and profound in its exploration of love, deceit and betrayal, Felsen’s novel is a daring and highly original work of psychological fiction”—Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2022021755 (print) | LCCN 2022021756 (ebook) | ISBN 9781662601965 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781662601972 (epub)

Subjects: LCGFT: Diary fiction. | Psychological fiction. | Novels.

Classification: LCC PG3476.F43675 O2613 2022 (print) | LCC PG3476.F43675 (ebook) | DDC 891.73/42—dc23/eng/20220622

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022021755

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022021756

First edition