Book cover of American Ending

Book description

A woman growing up in a family of Russian immigrants in the 1910s seeks a thoroughly American life.

Yelena is the first American born to her Old Believer Russian Orthodox parents, who are building a life in a Pennsylvania Appalachian town. This town, in the first decades of the 20th…

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Why read it?

1 author picked American Ending as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

It’s a cliché that America is a land of immigrants, but Mary Kay Zuravleff offers a rich and engaging take on a particular community- Old Believer Russian Orthodox. Through the viewpoint of the family’s first American-born child, she weaves a tale of struggle, grief, and joy.

With Zuravleff’s vivid details and integration of Russian folk tales, I became a time traveler with eyes widened.

If you love American Ending...

Book cover of These Blue Mountains

These Blue Mountains by Sarah Loudin Thomas,

A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…

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