Born on March 17, 1940 in Russia, Valentina grew up in an ordinary family and graduated from Orel University in 1962. For the first five years following graduation she taught English and German, then worked for 35 years as an interpreter and translator at the Russian Enterprises and as a free-lance interpreter. She continues her career in Canada.
History and Linguistics were Valentina's passion throughout her life. She is especially inspired by the stories of Queen Bodacia of Roman England, whose times also insprired Tolkien's Lord of the Rings
Valentina's Russian ancestry is part of her cultural and spiritual self, and that's what contributes to the peculiarity of her essay, To the Horizon and Beyond - Mitzvoth, as it is expressed in Yiddish.
Written from her heart, the feelings and sensations in the book reflect what it is to have a Russian soul: spiritual and mysterious.