Newmag Publishing House presents a warm and nostalgic story from 1970s Yerevan: When the Apricot Tree Blossoms (trailer)
05/11/2026
Love, memory, youth, and the spirit of old Yerevan. “When the Apricot Tree Blossoms” is a novel about love that does not fade with time, friendships tested by history, and a spring that always returns.
Some cities reveal their true soul in spring, when apricot trees blossom. Such is Yerevan in 1974.
In his debut novel, Armenian writer Vigen Jakokajyan recreates the atmosphere of Soviet-era Yerevan with the scent of apricots, underground national movements, youthful dreams, and stories of friendship and love.
At the center of the novel are three young friends whose ordinary and predictable lives gradually become entangled in dangerous ideas, secret conversations, forbidden subjects, and political awakening.
A grandmother arriving from Paris, discussions about the Treaty of Kars, the ideas of Garegin Nzhdeh, Yerevan speculators, and the atmosphere of the Soviet underground all become part of the story’s emotional and political landscape.
The heroes are young, hopeful, and convinced that life still lies ahead of them. Yet, almost without noticing, they find themselves drawn into a dangerous reality where freedom has a price and youthful idealism can lead to irreversible consequences.
The novel explores friendship and betrayal, dreams and compromises, mistakes and loss. Yet Vigen Jakokajyan does not create a dark political chronicle. The book is filled with the living energy of old Yerevan and memorable cultural figures, including Frunzik Mkrtchyan, Gohar Gasparyan, and Elvina Makaryan. At the heart of everything remains love.
Vigen Jakokajyan is the grandson of Armenian Genocide survivors. During his student years, he dreamed of becoming a journalist. In the 1970s, he joined the Armenian national-political underground movement, which led to his expulsion from Yerevan State University. Since 1995, he has worked in the field of medical equipment and currently serves as a logistics director.
The novel has been published in both Armenian and Russian. The Armenian translation was done by Anush Muradyan.
The main partners of “When the Apricot Tree Blossoms” are Sharm Company and the Renaissance Foundation.
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Description
1974, Yerevan. The lives of three friends change irrevocably over the course of a year. What seemed simple and predictable turns into a tense, dangerous reality, where every choice has a price. This story is about friendship and betrayal, about dreams and forced concessions. Values that seemed unbreakable in adolescence collide with reality, mistakes become irreparable over time. Attempts to ask for forgiveness are late and do not bring back the loss.
They are young, enthusiastic, full of faith in the future. But they find themselves unnoticed in a world where secret conversations, forbidden topics, and foreign games are everywhere. The thirst for freedom gradually leads them down a dangerous path, where the stakes are not at all youthful.
The novel “When the Apricot Blossoms” is about love, memories, and time. A love that does not fade, but deepens over the years. And about spring, which always returns.
