Ordinary Wonders: Stories of Unexpected Grace [Paperback]

The Deceitful Onion Bulb. A Blessing to Smuggle. The Conjuror of Rain. In this collection of stories as whimsical as their titles, award-winning author Olesia Nikolaeva poignantly recounts life for Christian believers in Soviet and post-Soviet Russia. In a manner reminiscent of the bestsellingEveryday Saints these tales reveal a common theme - the subtle, sometimes imperceptible movement of Divine Providence at work in the lives of saints and sinners alike. Her writings bring us to what the ancient Celts called “thin places” where the boundaries of heaven and earth meet and the sacred and the secular can no longer be distinguished.

"A trailblazer of Russian Orthodox prose." —Bishop Tikhon (Shevkhunov), author of 2011 bestseller,Everyday Saints

"Great book and companion to Bishop Tikhon’sEveryday Saints. Highly recommend it!" —V. Rev. Archpriest Victor Potapov, Facebook.com

"This book both lures and charms the reader to embark on the journey of a lifetime. It is a journey into a place where earthly logic falls apart and the laws of our fallen world cease to exist." —Fran Salone-Pelletier, Today's American Catholic

Olesia Nikolaevais a prolific and award-winning author, poet, and essayist. She has been composing verse since her early youth and was first published at the age of seventeen. Bishop Tikhon (Shevkhunov), author of the 2011 bestsellerEveryday Saints, called her "a trailblazer in Russian Orthodox prose."Alexandra Weberholds an MA in Russian Literary Translation from Columbia University.