Bridge From Nowhere

Rating:
Summary: Book we needed and were waiting for
Review: "Bridge From Nowhere" is a captivating story about an attractive and strongly willed single mother (Anna) who is at the age of 35 resolutely used the slightly open window of opportunity to leave her "Orvelian Motherland" (Soviet Union) in order to deliver her daughter into the free world.
Emigration is never easy. Especially for those whose whole previous existence was under an oppressive totalitarian regime.
Where ordinary people spent a good part of the day in lines to get some food on the table, or clothes, or any household goods, etc. It is a complete change of the mental environement.
Anna and little Tanya came to Chicago with no money, speaking poor English. They did not have any relatives, friends, or even acquaintances. At the very beginning they were supported by the Jewish organization. But Anna is a very devoted and determined mother. We see her working very hard as a servant, as a made. Although she has a University Degree she does not disdaine any job. She even compromises her body but never her spirit, her determination, her will to succeed. Anna learns English, learns to drive, and graduates from the software training. She finds a steady job and is well on her way to stabilize her life. She even bought a house. In the meantime Anna meets Jack, a nice American guy, who falls in love with her. Tanya is on her way to meet her mother's expectations.
It is a very inspirational and passionate story. Once I started reading this book I could not put it aside.
My family and I came to the U.S.A. at about the same time as Anna. I have a first hand experience in Anna's introduction to the free society and integration into it. I also witnessed a lot of my friends successfully going through the same process. I think that the "Bridge From Nowhere" , although a fiction, is very close to the real life stories about the Russian-Jewish immigrants in the U.S.A..
This book is a good tribute to the Russian-Jewish immigrants and to the American society.

Rating:
Summary: Bridge From Nowhere
Review: An historical novel about the Russian Jewish immigration to the United States tells how people are torn in their love of freedom and at the same time their fear of that same freedom, as it is a quantity totally unknown to them. The things they have to do to be accepted in American society and still how they miss the known regimentation of life in Russia. Anna, the main character, had to lie and forge papers to get her daughter and herself out of Russia. The new generation, the children of these imigrants find the stories of their parents past hard to believe until they have the opportunity to see for themselves. A MUST READ not only for immigrants but for those of us who accept America's freedom and tend to take it for granted.

Rating:
Summary: Bridge to theAmerican future
Review: I believe that Bridge is a fascinating story, but not just of American miracles. Bridge is a passionate tale, but it is not just a Cinderella story. Bridge is a thought-provoking novel, but not just "of miraculous transformation of Soviet Cinderella, Anya Fishman, into happy American lady Anna Graff." Yes, it is a classic American story, but not just American. This novel, rather, follows general humanitarian tradition, in particular one of Russian classic Chekhov, to investigate the tortuous transformation of pagan spirit of a slave into a free human spirit. Not everybody, and not just among Russian-Jewish immigrants, not just among new American immigrants has consciousness, will and determination to squeeze out one's slave spirit " drop by drop" (by Chekhov's words) on a daily basis. It takes years to reach this sort of freedom, even in the best Anna's scenario. A generation passed away before Moses brought his people to the Promised Land. In this regard, it's hard to blame an old immigrant woman, so colorfully described in the novel, who tried to cheat a charity for a dozen of eggs. In a similar way, all the cheatings of the American welfare system by newly arrived immigrants seem pale, though impermissible, in comparison with the cheating of the American values system by the corrupt CEOs, mutual and pension funds managers, etc. For me, Bridge is not about a generation of slaves, but of a next free generation of their children - a generation of Anna's daughter Tanya.
For me, this novel is a call for every American, from waiter to governor to vice-president, not to spoil this next generation by tax evasion, by racketeering, by corruption, and by political cynicism. For me, Anna with her pragmatism and honesty, common sense and compassion is not a pagan, though formally she is not too close to God. Yes, God bless America, but, apparently, through the spirit of millions of ordinary American citizens, who've been squeezing paganism "drop by drop" out of their souls. And this book not just reminds of importance of spirituality but calls us to spare the great American spirit for the next generations.
Without questions, Bridge from Nowhere is not bridge to nowhere, to never-mind. This book makes conscious bridges to the free future not just of Russian-Jewish immigrant community but of the whole contemporary American society. That's why Bridge is really a classic American story with a connection to everybody's consciousness. In this respect, this book already is a bestseller, at least, for the readers' minds if not for the publisher's pocket yet. Highly recommended, 5- star book.

Rating:
Summary: Bridge to theAmerican future
Review: I believe that Bridge is a fascinating story, but not just of American miracles. Bridge is a passionate tale, but it is not just a Cinderella story. Bridge is a thought-provoking novel, but not just "of miraculous transformation of Soviet Cinderella, Anya Fishman, into happy American lady Anna Graff." Yes, it is a classic American story, but not just American. This novel, rather, follows general humanitarian tradition, in particular one of Russian classic Chekhov, to investigate the tortuous transformation of pagan spirit of a slave into a free human spirit. Not everybody, and not just among Russian-Jewish immigrants, not just among new American immigrants has consciousness, will and determination to squeeze out one's slave spirit " drop by drop" (by Chekhov's words) on a daily basis. It takes years to reach this sort of freedom, even in the best Anna's scenario. A generation passed away before Moses brought his people to the Promised Land. In this regard, it's hard to blame an old immigrant woman, so colorfully described in the novel, who tried to cheat a charity for a dozen of eggs. In a similar way, all the cheatings of the American welfare system by newly arrived immigrants seem pale, though impermissible, in comparison with the cheating of the American values system by the corrupt CEOs, mutual and pension funds managers, etc. For me, Bridge is not about a generation of slaves, but of a next free generation of their children - a generation of Anna's daughter Tanya.
For me, this novel is a call for every American, from waiter to governor to vice-president, not to spoil this next generation by tax evasion, by racketeering, by corruption, and by political cynicism. For me, Anna with her pragmatism and honesty, common sense and compassion is not a pagan, though formally she is not too close to God. Yes, God bless America, but, apparently, through the spirit of millions of ordinary American citizens, who've been squeezing paganism "drop by drop" out of their souls. And this book not just reminds of importance of spirituality but calls us to spare the great American spirit for the next generations.
Without questions, Bridge from Nowhere is not bridge to nowhere, to never-mind. This book makes conscious bridges to the free future not just of Russian-Jewish immigrant community but of the whole contemporary American society. That's why Bridge is really a classic American story with a connection to everybody's consciousness. In this respect, this book already is a bestseller, at least, for the readers' minds if not for the publisher's pocket yet. Highly recommended, 5- star book.

Rating:
Summary: The American Story
Review: While reading a Bridge from Nowhere I had a persistent thankful feeling that I'm talking to a close friend. I wasn't alone anymore in trying to explain the way it was and the way it is. Somehow if we don't remind others, they forget and their forgetfulness is dangerous, it could hurt the ones who just started on their courages way to our America. The story of America is a story of each and every person who came here from somewhere else and then it's the story of continuation - it's about our survival. Thanks Bena for reminding us.