Panic in a Suitcase

In this marvelous debut novel, a Russian immigrant family from Odessa arrives in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, to begin a new life, but leaving the old world to pursue the American dream isn't quite what family members had imagined. The narrative recounts with humor and wisdom the experiences of the Nasmertov family over the course of two decades, through the fall of communism and the rise of globalization. Pasha and Marina, two of the book's many intriguing characters, struggle to put the past behind them while confronting the rules and eccentricities of American life. Russian-owned shops and other reminders of home are everywhere in Brighton Beach, but does the freedom to return to Odessa make success in their adopted country more difficult to achieve? With beautiful prose that often feels like poetry, Akhtiorskaya portrays America from an outsider's perspective while revealing the collective truths about families no matter where they live.