Featured book for August
Elena Gorokhova: A Mountain of Crumbs
Why you might be interested:
Leslie and I became voracious readers of Russian emigrants’ memoirs before we wrote Jewish Luck. We wanted to make sure that Vera and Alisa’s memoir added something new to the body of literature and we were interested in seeing how Russian authors presented their culture to a non-Russian audience.
One of the most gripping memoirs we read was A Mountain of Crumbs by Elena Gorokhova. Like Alla and Vera, Elena is Leningrad born. Although she is older than Alla, she attended the same English language school, #238. Elena, however, is not Jewish but she shares a disdain for the vranya (deception) of Soviet life with Alla and Vera.
Gorokhova’s language is lyrical, and it’s clear from her voice that she has mastered the nuances of the English language. We were hooked as soon as we read...



