Emily Rubin

Like others have said this story starts off well, but then just seems to fizzle out and ends disappointingly. None of the characters are interesting to me. They don't seem to do anything interesting. I mostly just forced myself to finish it. The most annoying part was the Epilogue, why weren't these stories worked into the rest of the book? It was as long as or longer than a chapter. Epilogues really shouldn't be so long you get frustrated with it. Thinking "Will this book EVER end?" That's not a good thought to have. Also, the sipping sounds in the epilogue were SO grating and annoying. That maybe another thing I'll never want to see again in a future book in a similar context.… (mais)

Starts well, disappointing ending.

This book started out well, I was readily drawn in to the life of Russian, Stalina Folskaya, who leaves her homeland for America in 1991, at the age of 51. I would have liked a bit more about her reasons for leaving, especially as she left an elderly, demented mother behind in St Petersburg. However, we meet her as she is preparing to leave and so assume those thought processes are behind her.

Arriving at Kennedy Airport, she makes her way to Hartford, Connecticut, where she stays with her childhood friend, Amalia. As is all too common in the emigre experience, her chemist's qualifications are of no value in her new land so Amalia finds her work as a maid at a local 'short-stay' motel. Stalina settles into this new way of life and persuades the proprietor to allow her to decorate some 'theme' rooms. Her Gazebo room and Roller Coaster room are an instant hit and The Liberty Motel adds 'Rooms for the Imaginative' to its motel board. Strangely, though she thinks about decorating other rooms, nothing happens for several years.

Unfortunately, I thought the novel collapsed in on itself at this point (about 2/3 through). Suddenly the motel ownership changed, 'suits' were on the scene, and Stalina breaks up with her closest friend over a thieving incident.
I don't want to spoil the story for prospective readers so I can't fully explain why I lost patience with the book at this stage, but all these events occurred with no build-up or back-ground and my star rating plummeted from a good 4 stars to only three.
A love interest in America would have been good too.

There were some really nice touches too though, particularly the relationship between Svetlana, the kitten, and Zarzamora, the crow. The flash-backs to Stalina's life in Russia were also interesting and the episode with the ashes made me smile.

This was a reasonable read but, for me, fell a bit short of the mark.… (mais)

My feelings for this novel are mixed. On one hand it’s a well written book but on the other hand it’s not quite there for me. It was as if the book had no plot or rather no climax.

I did enjoy reading the narrator’s description of Russia post Soviet Union. However, I wasn’t sure if the details were facts.

For the most part the characters were well-developed and the author did a good job of painting a visual picture of the scenes. I also enjoyed exploring the relationships of the characters. My favorite character was Stalina’s mother. Her mother liked to curse and y’all know I like people who curse… Shhhhh! I also enjoyed reading about her father’s love for American literature. I think it was her me wanting to know more about her father at-times that kept me interested.

On the other hand, I didn’t like some of the criticisms the narrator made about America. I’m one of those people who believe in the mantra, “Love it or Leave!” I’m okay with comparing differences between America and Russia but I caught myself telling the narrator, “Leave then!” Maybe it’s the American in me.

So for the most part this a well told story but I just felt like it was missing something. Maybe Stalina and Mr. Suri should have done more or maybe it should have given more detail as to why Stalina really came to America. Was it for the American dream that she often criticized? Why?… (mais)

Stalina is a good story about a Russian woman raised in the former Leningrad. She grew up in the city during repressive communist regimes and survived a dangerous era for Russian Jews. Stalina had mixed feelings related to memories of her childhood and adult life in Russia. After emigrating to America in her 50s, Stalina realized she loved the beauty and culture of Leningrad even though basic living needs were hard to come by. She was very grateful for her parents' protection of her during the 900 terrible days of the siege of Leningrad. She had good friends and a lover in Russia who helped her develop an assertive and optimistic adult personality and a realistic notion of her own resilience.

A major event in Stalina's early life was the disappearance of her poet father at the hands of the Russian government. This smoldered into her future until she achieved resolution in America. Stalina left her mother in a Leningrad nursing facility, left her long term laboratory job, and joined a lifelong widowed friend who had emigrated to Berlin, Connecticut. She made this gutsy transition without undue anxiety.

Working in the "short stay" motel business in Berlin, Stalina used her scientific and artistic qualities and generally made the best of whatever came her way. Her comparisons of the environment and relationships in America with her memories of Leningrad make for great humor and drama in the novel. Stalina is tough minded but also sensitive, legacies of her scientific education (chemistry) and the work of her poet father and influence of her cynical mother.

Stalina is an unusually appealing character and readers will enjoy her point of view and feel empathy for her many joys and few sorrows. Here's a woman with true grit.… (mais)