American Ending

A Novel

De: Mary Kay Zuravleff

Narrado por: Mary Kay Zuravleff

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 twentieth century, is filled with Russian transplants and a new church with a dome. Here, boys quit grade school for the coal mines and girls are married off at fourteen. The young pair up, give birth to more babies than they can feed, and make shaky starts in their new world. However, Yelena craves a different path. Will she find her happy American ending, or will a dreaded Russian ending be her fate?

In this immersive novel, Zuravleff weaves Russian fairy tales and fables into a family saga within the storied American landscape. The challenges facing immigrants-and the fragility of citizenship-are just as unsettling and surprising today as they were 100 years ago.

American Ending is a poignant reminder that everything that is happening in America has already happened.

©2023 Mary Kay Zuravleff (P)2024 Tantor

not much

I did not like the audio at all. she sounded like she was either eating or drinking

shows a realistic version in an immigrant life

I like that it tells the story over the course years and included the pandemic and prohibition. early 1900s. Russian American story

Rich characters make history come to life.

This story wove itself together from the fairytale premise, through the gritty realities of immigrant life to the conclusion of continuing your own story.
Mary Kay’s talent is definitely the ability to create diverse characters and make them interact as real people. The love hate relationship of sisters, the maturing appreciation of a mother’s words, all tell a story of real relationships.
The history combined with storytelling brings the coal mining and immigrant community to life.
She might have snuck in a couple Oklahoma references as well.
All in all, a great book. American Ending.

An American Ending Couldn’t End Fast Enough

This was a book club read b/c a member knew the author. The author punctuates her sentences with gulps of air or smacking her lips together to remedy dry mouth - so distracting. I respect immigrant coal miners and the hardships of their families. Neither the story nor characters were compelling. Men and women marry, women have babies, men drink, beat their wives, starve the dog, children die. The influencers are the Russian Orthodox Church and old world superstitions. I was not wrapped in emotion or vested in these characters. If this wasn’t a book club choice, I would have not finished and returned it to Audible for a credit.