A Schoolgirl's Diary

Unlike any kind of coming-of-age story you can imagine, A Schoolgirl's Diary situates adolescence in the context of unconditional patriotism and self-sacrifice. The schoolgirl of the title lives a life with modest comforts amongst a loving, middle-class family. She is upset with her absent father and her mother's unquestioning loyalty to him, but then she realises how selfish she has been when her father succeeds in his scientific research. In this great workers' paradise, individuals and families are simply too trivial to compare with the happiness and development of the country.