One More Year by Sana Krasikov

ONE MORE YEAR
By Sana Krasikov
Spiegel & Grau Publishing
ISBN: 9780385524391

I really love short stories. This book is a compilation of eight short stories all based around Russian immigrants, their lives here in the US and in some cases when they returned to Russia. Having grown up in a small town in the mid-west I was seldom given the opportunity to meet anyone who had moved here from another country so recently. Most people I knew were at least second generation like myself. When I moved to California one of the most exciting things for me was to meet people who had just recently come to this country. Each group comes with its own way of being in this world. What I have seen of people who came from Russia or surrounding countries was so much like what Sana Krasikov portrays in this book. The authenticity of the writing shouted at me.
The writing in this book was perfect. I was able to immediately get involved with each new character and by the end I felt that while the story could go on farther I was still left with the satisfaction of a complete story. Most of the main characters were women with the same struggles that women of all nationalities experience especially in a new country.
The only thing that I did struggle with in this book was also one of its greatest strengths. The stories were mostly sad and frustrating. I often left each one feeling much the way the main character was feeling. Since I tend to read mostly happy ending types of work I had to work a little harder to hang in there with this book. Like salt in a wound, however, it stings but ultimately it will assist in the healing. I think that it is important that we don’t always look at the pretty side but the things that temper humanity to make it stronger.