Russian Tattoo

This memoir reads like a novel and involves the reader from the start. From the beginning when Elena arrived in America to the revelation that her daughter had a place in her heart for her mother's homeland, it kept me interested. I had not thought of how alien America would be to a Russian even how foods were described - hot dogs and hamburgers. It was such a struggle for Elena to survive and, especially cope with her mother's long-term visit. As the book progressed we realised that she had some of her mother's traits and I was touched by her final understanding of her mother and how life had shaped her.

There was much to learn from this memoir but it read like a fascinating story rather than a history lesson.

Elaine Blatchford, Mo's Mob

Maureen Mitchell

I was really impressed with this book. It was so easy to read - it just flowed. It was so interesting to learn what life was like in Russia and then to see the contrast when Elena arrived in the USA. It never occurred to me that little things like reading a menu or waiting for a bus would be so alien to someone from a different culture. It really made me think. I thought it was sad that Robert,the first husband seemed so uncaring and cold and I'm glad that Elena's relationship with Andy flourishes and that they end up together. The relationship between Elena and her mother was complicated but so common, there must be mother/daughter relationships like this the world over, especially when Elena found herself behaving the same way towards her own daughter. I loved the part where Elena finds out that Sasha's tattoo is of the Russian dolls - signifying that Sasha has taken on some of her Russian heritage.

I think that this book is well worth reading.

Prior to reading this book I had been reading The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini and I was struck, superficially, by the similarity in which the two authors related fascinating daily details about their earlier lives in two different countries and their experiences when settling in the capitalist USA. There the likeness ends as Gorokhova has written a personal account of her life where Hosseini has written fiction.
On one level, the book appears to be about her yearning for two different countries; her birth place and her chosen America, and never really seeming to be totally settled in either. I have no personal experience but I would imagine that many migrants will feel this pull between two cultures and identities. I felt her accounts of her life in Russia were fascinating and her shock at the opulence of the West was thought provoking. Elena adapts to the wasteful lifestyle, her mother never does, and I recall older relatives who had to make do and mend in WW2 and who would be horrified at the wastefulness of our society. She does not always imply that the West is better; her stories of the richness of the home and family life in Russia contrast poorly with the inadequate material riches bestowed on her own, often troubled, daughter.
On another level, as the back cover states, it is a book about mothers and daughters and how the love and frustration transcends culture and country. Elena’s mother is not a monster, nor is Elena, nor Sasha. They are simply human with faults and strengths. Traits we are willing to ignore in others but not in close family members!
It was an easy read but thoroughly enjoyable and reflective. I could have read more and some old family photos would have enhanced the reading.

Sue Bailey

This memoir holds the reader's interest all the way thru. Fascinating insight into life in the former Soviet Union and the bewilderment of the immigrant. You so want her to succeed and find happiness.