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At the End of the World, Turn Left
"It's rare to find a debut mystery crafted with such elegance and authenticity, let alone in a place that has been so neglected as a literary location. Slor's next novel will be one to anticipate." ― NPR
“Slor keeps the suspense high in this unconventional detective story, using her characters’ musings on language and perception to enrich readers’ understanding of how and why events unfold as they do. Those looking for an intricately textured tale of family relationships will be rewarded.” — Publishers Weekly
“This wonderful debut is a match for patrons who enjoyed Zadie Smith’s White Teeth or Rachel Zhong’s Goodbye, Vitamin. It’s also a must for anyone who has ever had a needy Grandma who anticipates death every morning (this character alone is worth the read).” — Booklist, Starred Review
Zhanna Slor's debut novel, a unique literary mystery set in Milwaukee's eclectic Riverwest neighborhood during the 2008 recession, weaves together the tale of two immigrant sisters with very different ideas of home. Masha remembers her childhood in the former USSR, but found her life and heart in Israel's Orthodox community. Anna, a young artist and student, was only an infant when her family left but still yearns to find her roots. When Anna is contacted by a stranger from their hometown and then disappears, Masha is called back to Wisconsin to find her, and this search changes the family forever.
MORE ADVANCE PRAISE:
“An intoxicating fever dream of a book, At the End of the World Turn Left subverts the mystery genre in surprising ways and gives us the mysteries of real life instead: the incommunicable nature of the past, the confines of family, the gulfs love must try to cover between us. A beautiful, joyful read.” — Rufi Thorpe, author of The Knockout Queen, Dear Fang with Love, and The Girls of Corona Del Mar
"Don’t miss AT THE END OF THE WORLD, TURN LEFT―one of those gems of a novel that delivers poignant observations about life in a suspenseful page-turner. As two young sisters separately search for answers in the wonderfully offbeat neighborhood of Riverwest, Milwaukee, torn in different directions by a fascinating crew of locals―Jewish Soviet refugees, charismatic train hoppers, lovable loafers and thieves―the reader is taken on a heart-thumping ride that explores all the important relationships that make up our lives: our relationship to our siblings, parents, friends, country, heritage, and, lastly, to ourselves, that is the person we used to be and the one we hope to become." ― Jessamyn Hope, author of SAFEKEEPING
"Zhanna Slor's AT THE END OF THE WORLD, TURN LEFT is the story of two immigrant sisters who are grappling with finding their purpose and place in the world, struggling to find the balance between family and freedom, tradition and modernity. Slor's brilliant exploration of the nature of freedom is a quintessential first generation American story told with great humor, grit, wisdom, and compassion." ―Anne Raeff, author of Winter Kept Us Warm and Only the River
"Zhanna Slor has written a stellar debut novel of literary suspense, which is also an engrossing coming-of-age story focusing on two sisters who emigrated as children from Ukraine to Milwaukee. Slor insightfully examines their experiences as young women who must confront the contradictions they find in themselves, in America, and in their parents, who both want their daughters to live as they are told to rather than find their own way in the world. This is a debut of many felicities, much heart, and more than a few comic moments. It was a true pleasure to read." ―Christine Sneed, author of Little Known Facts and Paris, He Said
“Slor keeps the suspense high in this unconventional detective story, using her characters’ musings on language and perception to enrich readers’ understanding of how and why events unfold as they do. Those looking for an intricately textured tale of family relationships will be rewarded.” — Publishers Weekly
“This wonderful debut is a match for patrons who enjoyed Zadie Smith’s White Teeth or Rachel Zhong’s Goodbye, Vitamin. It’s also a must for anyone who has ever had a needy Grandma who anticipates death every morning (this character alone is worth the read).” — Booklist, Starred Review
Zhanna Slor's debut novel, a unique literary mystery set in Milwaukee's eclectic Riverwest neighborhood during the 2008 recession, weaves together the tale of two immigrant sisters with very different ideas of home. Masha remembers her childhood in the former USSR, but found her life and heart in Israel's Orthodox community. Anna, a young artist and student, was only an infant when her family left but still yearns to find her roots. When Anna is contacted by a stranger from their hometown and then disappears, Masha is called back to Wisconsin to find her, and this search changes the family forever.
MORE ADVANCE PRAISE:
“An intoxicating fever dream of a book, At the End of the World Turn Left subverts the mystery genre in surprising ways and gives us the mysteries of real life instead: the incommunicable nature of the past, the confines of family, the gulfs love must try to cover between us. A beautiful, joyful read.” — Rufi Thorpe, author of The Knockout Queen, Dear Fang with Love, and The Girls of Corona Del Mar
"Don’t miss AT THE END OF THE WORLD, TURN LEFT―one of those gems of a novel that delivers poignant observations about life in a suspenseful page-turner. As two young sisters separately search for answers in the wonderfully offbeat neighborhood of Riverwest, Milwaukee, torn in different directions by a fascinating crew of locals―Jewish Soviet refugees, charismatic train hoppers, lovable loafers and thieves―the reader is taken on a heart-thumping ride that explores all the important relationships that make up our lives: our relationship to our siblings, parents, friends, country, heritage, and, lastly, to ourselves, that is the person we used to be and the one we hope to become." ― Jessamyn Hope, author of SAFEKEEPING
"Zhanna Slor's AT THE END OF THE WORLD, TURN LEFT is the story of two immigrant sisters who are grappling with finding their purpose and place in the world, struggling to find the balance between family and freedom, tradition and modernity. Slor's brilliant exploration of the nature of freedom is a quintessential first generation American story told with great humor, grit, wisdom, and compassion." ―Anne Raeff, author of Winter Kept Us Warm and Only the River
"Zhanna Slor has written a stellar debut novel of literary suspense, which is also an engrossing coming-of-age story focusing on two sisters who emigrated as children from Ukraine to Milwaukee. Slor insightfully examines their experiences as young women who must confront the contradictions they find in themselves, in America, and in their parents, who both want their daughters to live as they are told to rather than find their own way in the world. This is a debut of many felicities, much heart, and more than a few comic moments. It was a true pleasure to read." ―Christine Sneed, author of Little Known Facts and Paris, He Said
299 pages, Hardcover
First published April 20, 2021
24 people are currently reading
953 people want to read
About the author
Zhanna Slor
3 books21 followersZhanna Slor was born in the former Soviet Union and moved to the Midwest in the early 1990s. She has been published in many literary magazines, including Ninth Letter, Another Chicago Magazine, and Michigan Quarterly Review, as well as contributing to the popular news publication The Forward. Her debut novel, At the End of the World, Turn Left, was called "elegant and authentic" by NPR and named by Booklist as one of the "Top Ten Crime Debuts" of 2021. Her second novel, Breakfall, a domestic thriller surrounding a mysterious death at a close-knit Jiu Jitsu gym, is due out in Spring 2023.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews
March 4, 2021
I wrote it so I am probably biased, but I think this book is great!
January 7, 2021
This "sisters novel" tells the story of two immigrant young women, Masha and Anna, as they navigate the very gritty Riverwest area of Milwaukee in 2007-2008. The district is home to train-hoppers, impoverished students, hipsters, grunges, and the truly dispossessed of the city. The author paints a vivid, disturbing and unnerving picture of the young--and less than young--denizens of the area, and a rarely-written-about way of life.
Masha, whose given name is Maria, is a Russian-Ukranian immigrant. Her parents brought her and her younger sister, Anastasia, known as Anna, to the US in the late 80s. Masha leaves the US for Israel, but returns at her father's request, when Anna, now 19, cuts off communication with her family.
The story is told as a search for Anna, but it's really the search by both Masha and Anna for their identities as immigrants, Americans, Russian-Ukranians, and to a limited extent, as Jews. It explores the trauma of leaving, and the tension between the striving of their parents, who have known true fear and privation, and the deliberate seeking out of frightening experiences and poverty by the daughters, who have only known a version of survivor's guilt.
This guilt will be familiar to any child of immigrants or child who came to the US as a very young person. They have not suffered as their parents did, they are beholden to their parents for the gifts of American-ness, of freedom, food and security, and they owe obedience and success in return. Masha and Anna navigate that tension in similar ways, but with different outcomes.
The book is riveting and heartfelt, and the author does a masterful job of keeping the tension high while weaving together the emotional threads of the story. The real star, though, is Riverwest, and there Ms. Slor really brings the story home.
I received a Review Copy at no charge in exchange for a fair review.
Masha, whose given name is Maria, is a Russian-Ukranian immigrant. Her parents brought her and her younger sister, Anastasia, known as Anna, to the US in the late 80s. Masha leaves the US for Israel, but returns at her father's request, when Anna, now 19, cuts off communication with her family.
The story is told as a search for Anna, but it's really the search by both Masha and Anna for their identities as immigrants, Americans, Russian-Ukranians, and to a limited extent, as Jews. It explores the trauma of leaving, and the tension between the striving of their parents, who have known true fear and privation, and the deliberate seeking out of frightening experiences and poverty by the daughters, who have only known a version of survivor's guilt.
This guilt will be familiar to any child of immigrants or child who came to the US as a very young person. They have not suffered as their parents did, they are beholden to their parents for the gifts of American-ness, of freedom, food and security, and they owe obedience and success in return. Masha and Anna navigate that tension in similar ways, but with different outcomes.
The book is riveting and heartfelt, and the author does a masterful job of keeping the tension high while weaving together the emotional threads of the story. The real star, though, is Riverwest, and there Ms. Slor really brings the story home.
I received a Review Copy at no charge in exchange for a fair review.
September 3, 2021
I couldn’t make heads or tails out of this book.
The players are a Russian Jewish family who moved from the USSR to Milwaukee several years ago.
Unfortunately I am not well acquainted with Russian immigrants or Milwaukee.
The story alternates between two sisters Masha and Anna.
Anna has gone missing.
Their father summons Masha who now lives in Israel to come back to Milwaukee to find her sister.
The father picks up Masha at the airport and drops her off in a seedy part of town where she used to live. (???)
That alone I found ridiculous, but I kept reading to find out what had happened to Anna.
That turned out to be a bitter disappointment.
Not much of a story for me. Sorry.
The players are a Russian Jewish family who moved from the USSR to Milwaukee several years ago.
Unfortunately I am not well acquainted with Russian immigrants or Milwaukee.
The story alternates between two sisters Masha and Anna.
Anna has gone missing.
Their father summons Masha who now lives in Israel to come back to Milwaukee to find her sister.
The father picks up Masha at the airport and drops her off in a seedy part of town where she used to live. (???)
That alone I found ridiculous, but I kept reading to find out what had happened to Anna.
That turned out to be a bitter disappointment.
Not much of a story for me. Sorry.
March 10, 2021
Very Interesting fiction novel written by my daughter with some personages similar to people I know.
September 15, 2021
“Everyone is conning everyone”. -At the End of the World, Turn Left
I’ve read a lot of great books this year and this wasn’t one of them. It had a YA feel. Do you know what I mean?? Over dramatic, drifting, everything over the top for no reason. At 40% I was drifting. And what kind of ending was that???
I felt like this was about morals and no one had them. Not one redeemable person! Zilch! And the story was depressing. I wanted it to flow better and make more sense. The “religious” sister wasn’t religious, was she?
All I got from this was a lot of information on everyone’s weaknesses and insecurities. Lots of cigarettes, pot, alcohol and other drugs. Yuck.
But as a afterthought, I did love the way she talked about books. It is a dying hobby and people really need to read more. And I don’t mean scrolling on a phone. It’s life changing.
This author has a lot of potential and when she finds her balance and focus, she’ll write something good.
I chose to listen to this book on audio and the narrators were excellent. It was 10 hours and 22 minutes.
Thanks Dreamscape Media via Netgalley.
I’ve read a lot of great books this year and this wasn’t one of them. It had a YA feel. Do you know what I mean?? Over dramatic, drifting, everything over the top for no reason. At 40% I was drifting. And what kind of ending was that???
I felt like this was about morals and no one had them. Not one redeemable person! Zilch! And the story was depressing. I wanted it to flow better and make more sense. The “religious” sister wasn’t religious, was she?
All I got from this was a lot of information on everyone’s weaknesses and insecurities. Lots of cigarettes, pot, alcohol and other drugs. Yuck.
But as a afterthought, I did love the way she talked about books. It is a dying hobby and people really need to read more. And I don’t mean scrolling on a phone. It’s life changing.
This author has a lot of potential and when she finds her balance and focus, she’ll write something good.
I chose to listen to this book on audio and the narrators were excellent. It was 10 hours and 22 minutes.
Thanks Dreamscape Media via Netgalley.
July 12, 2021
2.75. I think the storyline was interesting and I think the author is a decent writer. However, her depiction of the Riverwest Neighborhood in Milwaukee, although high on detail was very stereotypical and a little off base.
March 3, 2021
Masha and Anastasia are sisters who immigrated to the United States from the former USSR as children, in the 80s. The two spent their adolescents in the gritty counter-culture neighborhood, Riverwest, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In her early twenties, Masha makes a journey of self-discovery, immigrating to Israel but returns to Milwaukee, at the insistence of her father, when her sister, now 19, cuts off communication with her family.
This is Slor’s debut novel and I’m already excited to read more from her. The writing is raw and emotional, exploring a number of thought-provoking themes. Masha and Anastasia come of age in a different world from that of their parents and grandparents. The generational divide is well-explored throughout the story. Both sisters are intriguing and complex in their own way. Masha’s exploration of her Jewish identify creates an inner conflict for her as it takes her away from her family.
Slor does a masterful job of maintaining suspenseful tension as the story progresses with Masha hunting for her sister, while facing her own past. This one is a must read. The book is currently available for pre-order ahead of it’s release on April 20th, 2021. I’d like to thank the author for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.
This is Slor’s debut novel and I’m already excited to read more from her. The writing is raw and emotional, exploring a number of thought-provoking themes. Masha and Anastasia come of age in a different world from that of their parents and grandparents. The generational divide is well-explored throughout the story. Both sisters are intriguing and complex in their own way. Masha’s exploration of her Jewish identify creates an inner conflict for her as it takes her away from her family.
Slor does a masterful job of maintaining suspenseful tension as the story progresses with Masha hunting for her sister, while facing her own past. This one is a must read. The book is currently available for pre-order ahead of it’s release on April 20th, 2021. I’d like to thank the author for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.
May 26, 2021
I got an advance copy of this book to review for our Temple book club. The story centers around two sisters of Russian immigrant parents with very different outlooks on life in America and their Russian roots. The role of their immigrant parents and outlook from their grandparents all played well into their views of both their native Russia and their place in America. It was so interesting to see how each dealt with their life in America and their relationship with Russia in a different matter bringing to light the difficulties and mixed emotions that I am sure many immigrants coming to America experience. The age when Anna and Masha left really colored their perspective. It’s easy to see how one might romanticize a country they don’t really remember and others might not want to talk about it. The characters in the book very real and very different in they way they experienced life around them and their roles in the family dynamics.
Maybe it’s my age, but I found it hard to understand life in the college town with the drugs and transient relationships. There was more focus on this than I felt necessary. Zhanna Slor also used a technique that is commonly used in books these days, the switching between characters and time periods with each chapter. Personally, I want to see what is happening next and will sometimes lose track when I rejoin the following chapter. That being said, Zhanna does this better than most as the two stories merge and come together. The book is suspenseful and keeps me guessing in many ways. There’s not just one mystery, but many. Where is Masha’s mother? Where has happened to Anna? Who is the mysterious person from Russia? All this keeps your interest.
Maybe it’s my age, but I found it hard to understand life in the college town with the drugs and transient relationships. There was more focus on this than I felt necessary. Zhanna Slor also used a technique that is commonly used in books these days, the switching between characters and time periods with each chapter. Personally, I want to see what is happening next and will sometimes lose track when I rejoin the following chapter. That being said, Zhanna does this better than most as the two stories merge and come together. The book is suspenseful and keeps me guessing in many ways. There’s not just one mystery, but many. Where is Masha’s mother? Where has happened to Anna? Who is the mysterious person from Russia? All this keeps your interest.
June 18, 2021
Post-Soviet Union Jewish identity: is there such a thing? It’s difficult to come up with a specific name for those who once lived in what is now the former U.S.S.R.: Soviet Jews, Russian Jews, or Jews-whose-identity-card-may-have-said-they-were-Jewish-but-who-don’t-accept-that-designation. Different people fit each possibility, and sometimes a person’s identity fits into more than one category. Two new works of fiction don’t answer this question, but rather give readers even more ways to think about the problem. Mikhail Iossel’s “Love Like Water, Love Like Fire” (Bellevue Literary Press) offers short stories, many of which take place in the former Soviet Union, while the characters in Zhanna Slor’s novel “At the End of the World” (Agora Books/Polis Books) live in the United States and Israel.
See the rest of my review at https://www.thereportergroup.org/past...
See the rest of my review at https://www.thereportergroup.org/past...
May 25, 2021
I do not summarize books I read but I prefer to comment on the things that I like and dislike about a book. The best thing about this book by far is the character, location and scene development. I could literally see, hear and even smell each character, setting or activity whether it was a party, or outdoor scene, in a car or a coffee shop. I felt as though I was a part of the scene, a fly on the wall or I was standing or sitting in the middle of the action. I appreciated the details that Zhanna added that made me know or want to know each and every character and I did not find a character (even the most negative ones) that I did not "like". The book is filled with twists and turns and double backs that in the end leaves you wanting more. This is a book that I will definitely recommend for others. Mazel Tov to Zhanna Slor for this novel.
July 17, 2021
Highly recommend this debut novel. A story that is a mystery novel or a coming of age novel? Readers will have to decide. Woven loosely on some of the author's experiences; Russian immigrant sisters choose different paths in early adulthood in spite of their parents expectations. The author writes a rich book that goes beyond the basic mystery story line, sharing nuggets of linguistic treasures, societal subcultures, and life narratives of young adults. Looking forward to this author's future writings! I thoroughly enjoyed a rare in person visit and author talk through our local library.
February 16, 2021
A very easy read - I highly recommend it if you want something adventurous and engaging without sacrificing character development. The book is about a young woman returning to the city of her misspent youth in search of her sister who has gone missing, but ends up touching on themes of personal growth and the push and pull of family. A very interesting window into the experience of both immigrant families and what it was like to be a young millennial. Very enjoyable!
July 14, 2021
A very fast read with compelling characters. Two sisters, Masha and Anna are juxtaposed in their journeys, but connected through family history, space and time. And being that the book is set in Milwaukee, my home town, I identified with it right away. A great debut novel with intrigue, and identifiable coming of age memories from the late 2000s.
July 17, 2020
Great book!
June 21, 2021
Now halfway done with the #ReadingWomenChallenge ✨
While described as a mystery, AEWTL is much more a quiet family drama. We follow sisters Anna and Masha as they try to form their own adult lives while trying to honor their Russian heritage. Although this book definitely lost steam for me in the last 30%, I loved that it was set in Milwaukee, where I have spent a lot of time with my in-laws.
I used this title for the "author from Eastern Europe" category, and I've really enjoyed using the #ReadingWomenChallenge as a way to guide my reading this year.
While described as a mystery, AEWTL is much more a quiet family drama. We follow sisters Anna and Masha as they try to form their own adult lives while trying to honor their Russian heritage. Although this book definitely lost steam for me in the last 30%, I loved that it was set in Milwaukee, where I have spent a lot of time with my in-laws.
I used this title for the "author from Eastern Europe" category, and I've really enjoyed using the #ReadingWomenChallenge as a way to guide my reading this year.
September 10, 2021
I am so glad I was given the opportunity to listen to the audiobook of At the End of the World Turn Left. by Zhanna Slor. I was so interested in this story of a Russian Jewish immigrant family living in Milwaukee.
Apparently, author Zhanna wrote, and then, rewrote the novel several times, until under the guidance of her editor, the novel took the form of a mystery. Basically, when younger sister Anastasia goes missing in Milwaukee, the Dad asks his elder daughter, Masha, to come home from Israel (where she has been living for the last 5 years), to help him find her sister Anna. While Masha looks for her sister, she is forced to finally confront the demons she herself had run away from. The story explores the conflict every refugee grapples with, where is HOME and what does HOME mean to them.
I really enjoyed the narration by Zura Johnson and Caitlin Kelly. They brought the sisters to life, and, made this story - of two sisters struggling to embark on their own paths (even if it was contrary to what their parent's expected or hoped for them) - feel real!
Thank you #netgalley and @dreamscapemedia for the complimentary audiobook in return for my honest review.
Apparently, author Zhanna wrote, and then, rewrote the novel several times, until under the guidance of her editor, the novel took the form of a mystery. Basically, when younger sister Anastasia goes missing in Milwaukee, the Dad asks his elder daughter, Masha, to come home from Israel (where she has been living for the last 5 years), to help him find her sister Anna. While Masha looks for her sister, she is forced to finally confront the demons she herself had run away from. The story explores the conflict every refugee grapples with, where is HOME and what does HOME mean to them.
I really enjoyed the narration by Zura Johnson and Caitlin Kelly. They brought the sisters to life, and, made this story - of two sisters struggling to embark on their own paths (even if it was contrary to what their parent's expected or hoped for them) - feel real!
Thank you #netgalley and @dreamscapemedia for the complimentary audiobook in return for my honest review.
June 26, 2022
very very good first novel set in Milwaukee the ups and downs of a young womans life.
August 25, 2021
How can a debut novel be so good? What sorcery is this? A must read, especially if you share the background of the characters / author. You will see so much of yourself and your family reflected back at you.
July 22, 2021
Try to image this scenario: You have lived in a different country, far away from your family, for five years. Your father calls and asks you come home because your younger sister is missing. He picks you up at the airport, gives you almost no information about your sister's disappearance, and dumps you out in the sketchy neighborhood where you once lived and tells you to go find her. And you have no problem with this.
That's the opening of this book as Masha returns from Israel to Milwaukee and her Soviet-Jewish emigre family.
Count me among the very few people who ended up not caring for this story - even though there was a lot to like here. I was able to get past the unlikely opening scene, and I really enjoyed Slor's description of this neighborhood, but the utter ridiculousness of people who refuse to ask the most obvious questions drove me crazy. And, after building up the big mystery, two big mysteries actually, the ending completely blows off one mystery with a literary shoulder shrug while the other is solved without any real explanation. (Why did Anna end up where she did? Who was it she made the phone call to?)
Yes, I get that this is a book about trying to figure out who you really are, and the book follows Masha and Anna's paths as they work through the various issues in their lives, but the number of unanswered questions for the reader is incredibly frustrating.
I found it interesting that the characters of Riverwest are so fabulously drawn that I could picture each and every one of them, as well as the homes, bars, and streets, while I really couldn't get a sense of what Masha and Anna looked like, and my only impression of the father was sort of like Tevya from Fiddler on the Roof. But since they really don't know who they are, maybe we're not supposed to either. Meh.
That's the opening of this book as Masha returns from Israel to Milwaukee and her Soviet-Jewish emigre family.
Count me among the very few people who ended up not caring for this story - even though there was a lot to like here. I was able to get past the unlikely opening scene, and I really enjoyed Slor's description of this neighborhood, but the utter ridiculousness of people who refuse to ask the most obvious questions drove me crazy. And, after building up the big mystery, two big mysteries actually, the ending completely blows off one mystery with a literary shoulder shrug while the other is solved without any real explanation. (Why did Anna end up where she did? Who was it she made the phone call to?)
Yes, I get that this is a book about trying to figure out who you really are, and the book follows Masha and Anna's paths as they work through the various issues in their lives, but the number of unanswered questions for the reader is incredibly frustrating.
I found it interesting that the characters of Riverwest are so fabulously drawn that I could picture each and every one of them, as well as the homes, bars, and streets, while I really couldn't get a sense of what Masha and Anna looked like, and my only impression of the father was sort of like Tevya from Fiddler on the Roof. But since they really don't know who they are, maybe we're not supposed to either. Meh.
September 21, 2021
This is one of those books that I’m really glad I read even though I wouldn’t describe it as flawless. The specificity and perspective of this book is really unique (to me, anyway). My favorite aspects of the book were the specificity of place and the family relationships. The structure of having the book be a “mystery” was interesting, though I would describe it more as an emotional mystery than a typical whodunnit. I did think that the pacing of the book could have been better. Sometimes I felt like I could lose myself in the descriptions and dialogue but at other times the writing seemed a little blunt and forced, like there was too much telling rather than showing. Nevertheless, it will be exciting to see what Zhanna Slor writes next. I think she has interesting things to say.
March 10, 2021
Thank you NetGalley and the publishing house for providing me with an arc copy in exchange for my honest review.
I am very sorry and sad to say that I DNFed the book 60 pages before the end. I had extremely high expectations, but unfortunately it was not my cup of tea.
Maybe I will get back to it later and change my mind, right now it is like this.
I am very sorry and sad to say that I DNFed the book 60 pages before the end. I had extremely high expectations, but unfortunately it was not my cup of tea.
Maybe I will get back to it later and change my mind, right now it is like this.
April 20, 2021
At The End Of The World Turn Left
Zhanna Slor
Polis Books (Agora Books)
Publication Date 20th April 2021
This is the debut novel by Zhanna Slor who was born in the former Soviet Union and moved to Midwest USA in early 1990s. She lives in Milwaukee with her daughter and husband who is saxophonist for jazz fusion band Marbin. Her writings have been published in a range of literary magazines and received an honorary mention in Best American Essays 2014.
At The End Of The World Turn Left is her debut novel and focuses on a missing person, lost friendships, sinister acquaintances, cryptic messages from their abandoned homeland and how someone’s identity can differ across and between generations. The book alternates between two Russian born sisters of Jewish heritage Masha and Anastasia (or Anna) and is set largely in Milwakee’s Riverwest district in 2007 and 2008. At The End Of The World Turn Left translated from Hebrew slang as “B’sof Ha’olam Smolla” meaning the middle of nowhere – suburban Wisconsin in this case; but the phrase can also refer to starting a new life.
In 1991 the two girls, their parents and paternal grandparents left Chernovtsy in the former Soviet Union to the United States. While older sister Masha has some childhood memories of their previous lives, Anna has no recollections of this time. Their homeland is now part of Ukraine and the girls have never heard a word of the Ukrainian language before.
The Law Of Return allows Jews from across the word to move to Israel and elder sister Masha has taken this option. She is now settled with a partner while 19-year-old Anna is living as a student and studying in Milwakee. However, Masha receives a request from her father Pawel to urgently return as Anna has disappeared.
In parallel we follow Anna as she receives strange messages via her Myspace account from a mysterious woman living in Chernovtsy. This stimulates her own desire to return to the country of her birth. However, her father is deadest against this: “you can’t wash dirty dishes with dirty water – that level of corruption doesn’t go away because rubles are now hryvna.”
One of the key strengths of the novel is that Slor effectively shows the differences between the generations. Anna reflects upon the generation of Russian Jews who came to America for a better life never accept this is enough, they are always striving for a better life. She feels her parents should have been happy getting them to America but this is followed by a series of newly desired accomplishments such as wealth, European cruises, expensive clothes and clean cut Jewish life partners for their daughters. Anna questions why they would move to America for their daughters to marry Russian Jews; and speak in Russian but hate it there. Anna had been encouraged to use the Birthright programme to follow her sister to Israel but she denounces it as a dating service and states she has been told it is used to “brainwash” people into being Zionists.
While not brainwashed Marsha’s behavior has changed since leaving. While visiting old haunts and seeing old faces she tells herself that “lying is supposed to be a thing of the past, like all the drugs and sleeping around that I’d done during that brief period of flailing about in the abyss of adulthood.” While keen to find her sister she will not drive or use her telephone on the Shabbat holy day marking her as more orthodox than her father. There are some colourful uses of etymology in Marsha’s dialogue with frequent references to the chronological derivation of words. She observes that her and her sister have been lucky, In Israel nineteen year olds would not have the luxury to disappear as they have to join the army, she feels that in Ukraine they would be too hungry to do anything but find jobs but they were lucky enough to do pretty much anything.
Their elderly grandparents can only speak Russian and their community is limited only to their immediate family and some friends of a similar age. There is some tragic comedy about the grandmother who constantly refers to her impending death and confuses her granddaughters. Her husband attempts to remain a steadying influence who spends much of his time watching Russian television from the country he reportedly hates.
Referred to as an unconventional detective story, Anna immerses herself in some dubious activities and some bad company which place her in danger. Marsha tries to track her down while facing down her own ghosts of the past. This story uses sprightly language from the outset which draws you to continue reading. It makes for a compelling combination. The one strange aspect is that Myspace is the social media application of choice and only accessed via laptops. The author purportedly set the novel in 2007-2008 partly as this was a vivid period in her own life and also as she did not wish the protagonists to use smartphones. Indeed, Anna is scathing as to why her father needs to read emails on his mobile phone. How times have changed!
Zhanna Slor
Polis Books (Agora Books)
Publication Date 20th April 2021
This is the debut novel by Zhanna Slor who was born in the former Soviet Union and moved to Midwest USA in early 1990s. She lives in Milwaukee with her daughter and husband who is saxophonist for jazz fusion band Marbin. Her writings have been published in a range of literary magazines and received an honorary mention in Best American Essays 2014.
At The End Of The World Turn Left is her debut novel and focuses on a missing person, lost friendships, sinister acquaintances, cryptic messages from their abandoned homeland and how someone’s identity can differ across and between generations. The book alternates between two Russian born sisters of Jewish heritage Masha and Anastasia (or Anna) and is set largely in Milwakee’s Riverwest district in 2007 and 2008. At The End Of The World Turn Left translated from Hebrew slang as “B’sof Ha’olam Smolla” meaning the middle of nowhere – suburban Wisconsin in this case; but the phrase can also refer to starting a new life.
In 1991 the two girls, their parents and paternal grandparents left Chernovtsy in the former Soviet Union to the United States. While older sister Masha has some childhood memories of their previous lives, Anna has no recollections of this time. Their homeland is now part of Ukraine and the girls have never heard a word of the Ukrainian language before.
The Law Of Return allows Jews from across the word to move to Israel and elder sister Masha has taken this option. She is now settled with a partner while 19-year-old Anna is living as a student and studying in Milwakee. However, Masha receives a request from her father Pawel to urgently return as Anna has disappeared.
In parallel we follow Anna as she receives strange messages via her Myspace account from a mysterious woman living in Chernovtsy. This stimulates her own desire to return to the country of her birth. However, her father is deadest against this: “you can’t wash dirty dishes with dirty water – that level of corruption doesn’t go away because rubles are now hryvna.”
One of the key strengths of the novel is that Slor effectively shows the differences between the generations. Anna reflects upon the generation of Russian Jews who came to America for a better life never accept this is enough, they are always striving for a better life. She feels her parents should have been happy getting them to America but this is followed by a series of newly desired accomplishments such as wealth, European cruises, expensive clothes and clean cut Jewish life partners for their daughters. Anna questions why they would move to America for their daughters to marry Russian Jews; and speak in Russian but hate it there. Anna had been encouraged to use the Birthright programme to follow her sister to Israel but she denounces it as a dating service and states she has been told it is used to “brainwash” people into being Zionists.
While not brainwashed Marsha’s behavior has changed since leaving. While visiting old haunts and seeing old faces she tells herself that “lying is supposed to be a thing of the past, like all the drugs and sleeping around that I’d done during that brief period of flailing about in the abyss of adulthood.” While keen to find her sister she will not drive or use her telephone on the Shabbat holy day marking her as more orthodox than her father. There are some colourful uses of etymology in Marsha’s dialogue with frequent references to the chronological derivation of words. She observes that her and her sister have been lucky, In Israel nineteen year olds would not have the luxury to disappear as they have to join the army, she feels that in Ukraine they would be too hungry to do anything but find jobs but they were lucky enough to do pretty much anything.
Their elderly grandparents can only speak Russian and their community is limited only to their immediate family and some friends of a similar age. There is some tragic comedy about the grandmother who constantly refers to her impending death and confuses her granddaughters. Her husband attempts to remain a steadying influence who spends much of his time watching Russian television from the country he reportedly hates.
Referred to as an unconventional detective story, Anna immerses herself in some dubious activities and some bad company which place her in danger. Marsha tries to track her down while facing down her own ghosts of the past. This story uses sprightly language from the outset which draws you to continue reading. It makes for a compelling combination. The one strange aspect is that Myspace is the social media application of choice and only accessed via laptops. The author purportedly set the novel in 2007-2008 partly as this was a vivid period in her own life and also as she did not wish the protagonists to use smartphones. Indeed, Anna is scathing as to why her father needs to read emails on his mobile phone. How times have changed!
April 15, 2021
Zhanna—thank you again for an ARC of this book! It was a treat to read before its release and everyone can get their hands on it :)
I was hooked from the very first scene and its engagingly raw writing. Well, really, I knew I would like it after listening to the book’s playlist (linked on her website).
The novel follows Maria (Masha) Pavlova as she returns to Milwaukee at her father’s request when her sister, Anastasia (Anna), goes missing in 2008. The book covers their family’s various experiences as Jewish Russian immigrants coming from 1980s Soviet Ukraine, and when we meet Masha, she’s returning to the U.S. after finding a home in Israel’s Orthodox community in her early twenties. While Masha searches for Anna, now 19 years old, readers see the sisters’ stories unfold in the past and present as they both search for their identities—what does it mean to begin childhood in the USSR and then live in the U.S. as growing adult women? We see their relationship with Riverwest—their adolescent home of vibrant color, grit, and drugs. As both Masha and Anna find themselves away from home, they learn about who they are as immigrants, daughters, Jews, sisters, Americans, Ukrainians, and women. We see them wrestle with a tension of knowing how much their parents had to sacrifice for them, feel the pressure to make it all worth it. While each family member is connected to each other, they each have their own cultural and home experiences, lending itself to gaps of understanding between generations that are explored throughout the novel. We see how each navigates the tension of then and now, of who they are, who they were hoped to be. and their connections to their homelands.
This literary mystery/thriller is captivating from the beginning with an intriguing plot and question over Anna’s disappearance, but I also kept reading for the characters themselves and their relationships with each other, themselves, with leaving, and with all the places of home.
I’m truly grateful for the chance to read a story that gives insight into another multifaceted experience of what it means to go missing and come back.
I was hooked from the very first scene and its engagingly raw writing. Well, really, I knew I would like it after listening to the book’s playlist (linked on her website).
The novel follows Maria (Masha) Pavlova as she returns to Milwaukee at her father’s request when her sister, Anastasia (Anna), goes missing in 2008. The book covers their family’s various experiences as Jewish Russian immigrants coming from 1980s Soviet Ukraine, and when we meet Masha, she’s returning to the U.S. after finding a home in Israel’s Orthodox community in her early twenties. While Masha searches for Anna, now 19 years old, readers see the sisters’ stories unfold in the past and present as they both search for their identities—what does it mean to begin childhood in the USSR and then live in the U.S. as growing adult women? We see their relationship with Riverwest—their adolescent home of vibrant color, grit, and drugs. As both Masha and Anna find themselves away from home, they learn about who they are as immigrants, daughters, Jews, sisters, Americans, Ukrainians, and women. We see them wrestle with a tension of knowing how much their parents had to sacrifice for them, feel the pressure to make it all worth it. While each family member is connected to each other, they each have their own cultural and home experiences, lending itself to gaps of understanding between generations that are explored throughout the novel. We see how each navigates the tension of then and now, of who they are, who they were hoped to be. and their connections to their homelands.
This literary mystery/thriller is captivating from the beginning with an intriguing plot and question over Anna’s disappearance, but I also kept reading for the characters themselves and their relationships with each other, themselves, with leaving, and with all the places of home.
I’m truly grateful for the chance to read a story that gives insight into another multifaceted experience of what it means to go missing and come back.
Read
April 16, 2021Memory is a strange thing. Especially when you are trying to remember something you didn’t experience; things that you know mostly from research or through the stories told by those who are no longer here. These things that you think you know, but know indirectly—these are your generational memories, familiar but strangely vague; painful, but distant. As if being “found at the bottom of the vacuum.” Zhanna Slor’s tools for remembering are nothing like Prust’s madeleine cakes, and her Riverwest, Milwaukee is no Combray. Still, it works beautifully to recreate both, her cultural memory of people and place. This literary novel is a tale exploring our understanding of what is home and how our family relates to it, to the culture around us, and to each other. As Slor poignantly points out, “A person could get lost forever, looking for something, when she doesn’t know what it is she’s looking for.”
The novelty of At the End of the World Turn Left is in its literary qualities, its masterful descriptions, and its plot, where the novel’s mystery genre provides the reader with a great incentive for keeping up with the page-turner while learning and reflecting on cultures, language, and such lofty ideals as freedom, belonging, and restrictions that imposed on us by love, family, and society. ― Jenya Krein, author of Не Исчезай
The novelty of At the End of the World Turn Left is in its literary qualities, its masterful descriptions, and its plot, where the novel’s mystery genre provides the reader with a great incentive for keeping up with the page-turner while learning and reflecting on cultures, language, and such lofty ideals as freedom, belonging, and restrictions that imposed on us by love, family, and society. ― Jenya Krein, author of Не Исчезай
September 27, 2021
Masha has returned from Israel at her father’s insistence. He is desperate for Masha to find her sister, Anna. Anna went missing after contact with a lady from their home country. This young lady claims to be a long lost sister.
Talk about a dysfunctional family. These two young ladies stole my heart. Both of these sisters are doing everything they can to escape the pressures of their home life. They both, at different times, move out and end up living a unique, bohemian lifestyle. Anna and Masha are good girls just trying to become who they need to be, not who their father WANTS them to be. This causes such friction. Then, Anna is contacted by this strange woman with a strange claim. This throws everything she knows about her dad into question.
This story is very intriguing. With all the strange, Bohemian characters, the grifters and the train hoppers. I didn’t even know people still did that.
The narrators are Zura Johnson and Caitlin Kelly. They are probably the reason this story is a 5 star audiobook. They really brought the characters to life. I was amazed at the mixed reviews this novel has received. I guess listening to it is the way to go. It was a 5star read for me from start to finish.
Need an audiobook you will not soon forget…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today!
I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.
Talk about a dysfunctional family. These two young ladies stole my heart. Both of these sisters are doing everything they can to escape the pressures of their home life. They both, at different times, move out and end up living a unique, bohemian lifestyle. Anna and Masha are good girls just trying to become who they need to be, not who their father WANTS them to be. This causes such friction. Then, Anna is contacted by this strange woman with a strange claim. This throws everything she knows about her dad into question.
This story is very intriguing. With all the strange, Bohemian characters, the grifters and the train hoppers. I didn’t even know people still did that.
The narrators are Zura Johnson and Caitlin Kelly. They are probably the reason this story is a 5 star audiobook. They really brought the characters to life. I was amazed at the mixed reviews this novel has received. I guess listening to it is the way to go. It was a 5star read for me from start to finish.
Need an audiobook you will not soon forget…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today!
I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.
Read
October 6, 2024YA level character development of unlikable protagonists with way too many unchallenged stereotypes & insulting generalizations here, there, everywhere. Some empathy for intergenerational trauma but that was pretty much offered only for some people. The worst portrayed was the “girl” speaking “Chinese” with her “oh you much impress!” in response to a little Cantonese, this, in the RW neighborhood which apparently “didn’t get the Customer Service memo”. I like linguists and ugh. A Craigslist scheme requires intelligence, “That is so elaborate for Riverwest. Usually people are held up at gunpoint or wake up to a missing computer... Unless you consider kombucha a valuable item, no one here has anything.” okaaaaaay. The girl at Foundation reading Tom Robbins “so Milwaukee” who gets told in Sanskrit “the mistaken belief for what the symbol represents.” Also, this sits extra something in 2024: “I feign a chuckle. Everyone (in Israel) kind of has their shit together there. Most of my friends have kids already, must be those years in the army or something.”
My favorite part was how one sister was commissioned to replicate Jules Bastien-Lepage’s The Wood Gatherer, one of my top 3 favorite pieces at MAM. I also liked the HZ quote about dissent being patriotic & Buffy the Vampire Slayer metaphors
My favorite part was how one sister was commissioned to replicate Jules Bastien-Lepage’s The Wood Gatherer, one of my top 3 favorite pieces at MAM. I also liked the HZ quote about dissent being patriotic & Buffy the Vampire Slayer metaphors
January 26, 2021
With wider themes of identity, independence, figuring out what home means, coming of age and reckoning with the past, this book checked all the boxes for me. But then when you dial in, this is also a book about Russia, Israel, misfits, immigrants and Judaism, so if there were any boxes left, check, check, check.
I like Zhanna's style; it's insightful and a little raw, and her story took me right back to my own youth tramping around Kensington Market, on Dead Tour and anywhere else that didn't feel like the suburbs my parents had moved to. I would have liked to have seen a little bit more about the relationship between the sisters, having the parallel stories intersect (because that's another check for me), but I wasn't left dissatisfied.
Props for being one of the only books I've been able to finish in the last 319 days.
Thank you to the author and Polis books for an advanced reading copy of this book.
I like Zhanna's style; it's insightful and a little raw, and her story took me right back to my own youth tramping around Kensington Market, on Dead Tour and anywhere else that didn't feel like the suburbs my parents had moved to. I would have liked to have seen a little bit more about the relationship between the sisters, having the parallel stories intersect (because that's another check for me), but I wasn't left dissatisfied.
Props for being one of the only books I've been able to finish in the last 319 days.
Thank you to the author and Polis books for an advanced reading copy of this book.
June 21, 2021
Raw and engrossing, dealing with not only a missing young woman but also the absences within family, the urge to escape and renew and start again, even if it's in the last place you thought you'd end up, and the challenges of being immigrants, and the child of immigrants. Good insight into the Millennial Generation experience and the Russian-Jewish journey in America - with the inevitable and brave confrontation of just what Israel means to them. The two main characters are brats of the first order but that just makes them more realistic. An impressive, if tough, first novel that asks more questions than it answers, which makes one value it more.
March 13, 2021
I was able to read this book as an advanced copy for my book club. For me, I would say that this book was part mystery/thriller, part historical fiction and part humanistic examination and I loved the three blended together! Well written and easy to get lost in, it will allow you, especially if your familial history includes immigration to a new country, to reflect upon multiple levels of what it means to be what/who you are. I loved finding out what title means, but I won't tell you, you have to read the book to find out!
April 16, 2021
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I won’t summarize it as some other reviewers have done except to say that the narrator’s voice didn’t just ring familiar as a fellow immigrant but extremely true to the immigrant heart. Her masterful use of voice and description reminded me of Tom Wolfe’s magazine writing-witty and succinct observations that often cut the observed quick. The plotting is rich but moves at a quick pace and at its heart the book is a mystery novel. It’s rare to find such depth of thought and heart in a young writer. I really can’t wait to read more!! Bravo.
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