First Papers

by Laura Z. Hobson

For Stefan and Alexandra Ivarin, who moved from Russia to America nearly twenty years ago, becoming "American" is a lifelong projectStefan and Alexandra Ivarin emigrated to America at the end of the nineteenth century. Russian Jewish socialists, the Ivarins are now established in a Long Island home designed, somewhat haphazardly, by Stefan. Despite their attempts at assimilation, the Ivarins find themselves still struggling to find a balance between their Russian roots and their American lives, between their past and their future--and those of their children.Based in part upon Hobson's own childhood, "First Papers" is a tender portrait of the tension between embracing a foreign culture full of opportunity while longing for a lost homeland.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1964

About the author

Laura Z. Hobson (1900–1986) was an American novelist and short story writer. The daughter of Jewish immigrants, she is best known for her novels Gentleman’s Agreement (1947), which deals with anti-Semitism in postwar America, and Consenting Adult (1975), about a mother coming to terms with her son’s homosexuality, which was based upon her experiences with her own son. Hobson died in New York City in 1986.