SYNOPSIS:
“Your problem is you have a Russian soul,” Anna’s mother tells her.
In 1980, Anna is a naïve UConn senior studying abroad in Moscow at the height of the Cold War—and a second-generation Russian Jew raised on a calamitous family history of abandonment, Czarist-era pogroms, and Soviet-style terror.
As Anna dodges date rapists, KGB agents, and smooth-talking black marketeers while navigating an alien culture for the first time, she must come to terms with the aspects of the past that haunt her own life.
With its intricate insight into the everyday rhythms of an almost forgotten way of life in Brezhnev’s Soviet Union, Forget Russia is a disquieting multi-generational epic about coming of age, forgotten history, and the loss of innocence in all of its forms.
MY THOUGHTS:
Reading Forget Russia felt more like a memoir than a novel as the writing was so emotive. I loved the dual timeline which centred on the female characters Sarah and Anna. It was heartbreaking to hear Sarah's traumatic childhood experiences and how her life options were completely out of her control. Anna's fascination with Russia was admirable, she was desperate to find out more about her family heritage and Russian culture. Unfortunately, entering Russia during the height of the Cold War Anna is immersed into a disappointing world of the need in keeping secrets, fear of those in charge, and a host of deprived people.
The novel is well researched and L. Bordetsky-Williams paints such vivid imagery of what life was like in Russia for the Jewish nation in particular. I completely connected with both Sarah and Anna, their stories felt very authentic and it was hard to not become emotional invested. I found the political elements of the novel fascinating alongside the reverse migration where Russian-Jews were returning back to their motherland in hopes of a brighter future. The novel highlights the hopes and dreams held by it's nationals, their belief, determination and sacrifice to work for and redevelop their country. The harshness, conditions and exploitation they faced is just truly heartbreaking.
Many thanks to L. Bordetsky-Williams for taking me on a historical tour of Russia, for not only voicing the experiences for many Jews who lived in Russia during that time but in educating me.
LINKS:
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