“This incredibly powerful book grabs you by the gut. You’ll experience the laughter, sorrow, joy, regret, love and hurt of a real life.”

Alan Alda

“Elena Gorokhova’s memoir of her journey to America is delightful, hilarious and bracingly candid.”

David Hoffman, Pulitzer-Prize
winning author of The Dead Hand

“The story of mothers and daughters, it is about wounds that sever our souls and never heal.”

Anya von Bremzen, Author of
Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking

         

“Exquisitely wrought, tender memoir of growing up in the Soviet Union.”

The New York Times Book Review

“An enthralling read.”

J.M. Coetzee, winner of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature

“The Russian equivalent of Angela’s Ashes.”

Billy Collins, former U.S. Poet Laureate