Disappearing Earth

Chapter 10 tells the story of Zoya, the restless wife of Nikolai Danilovich (Koyla), a police detective in Petropavlovsk. Zoya is a new mother on maternity leave who passes the time chain-smoking and watching migrant construction workers from Central Asia from her balcony. She used to imagine her husband finding the Golosovskaya sisters and basking in his new-found fame, but her fantasies did not come to pass. She recalls her life before she had the baby, when she worked in ecological education at a national park.

Zoya asks a neighbor to watch her baby under the pretense of going grocery shopping. Instead, she goes to the construction site across the street, but the workers are on break. She heads to the city church and sits in the courtyard, scrolling through social media. She comes across Masha’s profile, who she met at a holiday rental house on New Year’s. She recalls Koyla feeling sorry for the girl, calling her an old maid. Masha’s lifestyle and beauty make Zoya jealous.

Zoya envisions a different life. She imagines going back to work and chatting with her co-workers before realizing she doesn’t have anything interesting to say: “And what did Zoya have to show, beyond her infant’s blank expression? Almost half a year spent indoors.