A collective group of women narrate “Granddaughters.” The story begins in 1937. The ballerina’s story from the picture in “The Leopard” provides context for the ballerina’s granddaughter Galina’s story. Galina is both beautiful and ambitious, uncommonly so for her sociopolitical context. She tells her father that she wants to be a dancer, just as her grandmother was. Her dancing career is successful, and eventually she becomes Miss Siberia, then even a film actress. As the plural narrators speak of her accomplishments, Galina’s life is by far the most interesting thing that the women experience vicariously. Her success is a shared validation for all Siberian women, despite the narrators’ gossip and resentment of her.

Kolya, Galina’s high school love interest, joins the army to evade prison after the court finds him guilty of both drug-dealing and murder. Galina marries the 13th-richest oligarch in Russia. While Kolya may be her one true love, the oligarch brings her social status and wealth. Eventually, however, Galina falls out of favor with the oligarch. When they separate, she loses everything except her daughter, and she spends her final days living an ordinary life.