The Nansen Factor: Refugee Stories

by Alexandra Grabbe

A bold debut collection of stories that follow the lives of those displaced by the Bolshevik Revolution and their descendants, shining a light on the lasting impact of displacement and the resiliency of the human spirit.

Norwegian diplomat Fridtjof Nansen created a passport for stateless persons used by refugees as a valid travel document from 1922-1937. The world is all too aware of what has happened to Russia in the century since then—Lenin, Stalin, and now Putin with his iron-fist policies and invasion of Ukraine. But what about the aristocrats whose ancestors governed Russia before Communism? How did they fare in displacement? Civil War, Red Terror, and Bolshevik rule caused over one million to flee Russia. Written by the daughter of one such émigré, The Nansen Factor traces the lives of these refugees and their descendants across a century of upheaval and displacement. From the turmoil of the Bolshevik Revolution to the echoes of the past in modern-day America, these interconnected tales vividly portray the resilience of individuals uprooted by history at a moment when migrants are once again on the move in search of refuge, highlighting how the pain of losing one’s homeland may fade, but the injury to the psyche is slow to heal.

“The stories in this impressive collection beautifully express the enrichment and estrangement of displaced lives. With a single phrase or tiny detail, Grabbe accurately captures an entire soul and the fractured, complicated state of living between worlds. A bold and engrossing debut with unforgettable characters.” Marjan Kamali, author of The Stationery Shop and Tiger Women of Tehran

172 pages, Paperback

Published May 14, 2024

About the author

I love to escape into a good book. My preference goes to literary fiction.

I used to be an innkeeper and wrote an e-guide for Cape Cod visitors but never created a paper version. I prefer the feeling of holding a real book to e-publishing. When I borrow a library book and fall in love with it, I immediately buy a copy. I especially enjoy historical novels.

Among my favorite authors: John Updike and Lauren Groff. Again, what I care about is the quality of the writing and the attention paid to historical detail.. Recent books I have especially enjoyed, The History of Music by Ben Shattuck and The Correspondent by Virginia Evans. Shattuck possesses the ability to make a reader feel like he/she is back in time at the historical period when each story in his collection takes place. He inspires me to try and do the same with my historical fiction.

I graduated from Vassar, then moved to France for 25 years, so no MFA, but have honed my craft at GrubStreet in Boston since 2008.

I wrote a blog about living green on Cape Cod for 10 years. In January 2024, I started posting on Facebook during my visits to my husband in Sweden

I became familiar with immigrant life from editing my dad’s memoir, Emigre, 95 Years in the Life of a Russian Count. The Nansen Factor, my short story collection, was published June 18, 2024. Koehler Books will publish my memoir SEEING JOY March 17, 2026. I am now writing a novel set in Viking times.

The books I have enjoyed the most over the past six months include Milo Todd's The Lilac People and Lesley Bannatyne's Lake Song. Follow me on Instagram: AlexandraGrabbeBooks

Reviews

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

If, like me, you are attracted to slightly melancholic - but also very beautiful - stories about people who long back to the old grandeur of tsarist Russia, but have to build a new life no matter their circumstances-then this linked short story collection may be for you.

The Nansen factor is obviously not a book about the dark sides of said Russia, or the reasons for the revolutions (and the failure of the revolutions) - it's a book about the people who lived in the upper classes of that country and got their lives torn up and then had to rebuild them abroad (if they escaped with their lives). Those people, and their children, and their children's children and so on.

It's a selection of generational, interconnected stories about the big and small moments of everyday life in a world that has changed forever, whether it is scary and uncertain as Germany just after WWII or Shanghai before the Japanese invaded, or if it's new and with promise, such as Paris or the United States.

I found some of the stories genuinely moving, especially the early stories about the young people from the upper echelons of tsarist Russia who go out for shopping or play, not really being able to accept that their worlds are changed forever, until - in one case - they are at gunpoint with revolutionaries, and not even then perhaps. Change like this is a trauma that takes time to process and more often than not is done over generations. I felt this like an invisible 'mist' hanging over many of the stories, no matter what they were about on the surface - work, moving, marriage, courtship, children, etc.

There are a lot of books, esp. linked story collections, out there about the trials of displaced peoples from walks of life less glamorous than the Russia of old, and it is refreshing to read a book that cuts to the heart of what it feels like being out there, trying to knit a new life together, no matter where you come from. Of course there are people worse off than the (mostly) upper class families that were kicked out of Russia post-1917. That's not the point. The point is that they, and their descendants, are all people, looking for a place in the world, a way to make the best of life. And if you want to read beautiful, and sometimes surprising, stories empathetic to people, families, who over generations make this journey, then this book should be worth your while.

I think that that empathy was what moved me the most about Alexandra Grabbe's book, and I am grateful that I discovered it.

[Julie Tillison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book very interesting and was immediately drawn into the stories. The book is very readable and topical today, since there is much talk about immigration. I enjoyed the variety of stories, since the characters had different perspectives about the process of going to a different country. Having spent even as short of a time as three weeks in another country, dealing with a foreign language, it made me realize how challenging it is because it's not HOME. So the effects can be long lasting and profound.

Alexandra Grabbe writes in a way that makes you care about the characters and what happens to them. I enjoyed the time spent lost in other people's stories and the details of their changed lives. The Nansen Factor is an excellent read.

[c2 cole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't often read books of short stories and many times when I do, they are linked. The main link in these stories seems to be the Russian ancestry of many of the characters as well as having possessed a Nansen passport. I had never heard of these before and would have liked to have had a bit more information about them although they are adequately explained in one or two of the stories.

All the stories are highly readable about a subject I, at least, knew little about. My favorite stories are those that revolve around WWII, especially Time of the Pale Green Light and La Petite Boche. Grabbe has a way with description and I find that time period interesting. Two of the stories are of the more fantastic.

For a different take on history, this is a very interesting book to pick up

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Nansen Factor Refugee Stories by Alexandra Grabbe is a moving and insightful debut that traces the lives of those displaced by the Bolshevik Revolution and their descendants. With precision and empathy, Grabbe illuminates the enduring psychological and cultural impact of exile.

A compelling read for literary fiction enthusiasts and readers interested in migration, history, and human resilience, this collection captures the pain, courage, and enduring spirit of individuals living between worlds.

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