All Russians Love Birch Trees: A Novel

by Olga Grjasnova

An award-winning debut novel about a quirky immigrant’s journey through a multicultural, post-nationalist landscape
 
Set in Frankfurt, All Russians Love Birch Trees follows a young immigrant named Masha. Fluent in five languages and able to get by in several others, Masha lives with her boyfriend, Elias. Her best friends are Muslims struggling to obtain residence permits, and her parents rarely leave the house except to compare gas prices. Masha has nearly completed her studies to become an interpreter, when suddenly Elias is hospitalized after a serious soccer injury and dies, forcing her to question a past that has haunted her for years.
 
Olga Grjasnowa has a unique gift for seeing the funny side of even the most tragic situations. With cool irony, her debut novel tells the story of a headstrong young woman for whom the issue of origin and nationality is immaterial—her Jewish background has taught her she can survive anywhere. Yet Masha isn’t equipped to deal with grief, and this all-too-normal shortcoming gives a particularly bittersweet quality to her adventures.

• ISBN10: 1590515846
• ISBN13: 9781590515846
• Publish Date: 7 January 2014 (first published 1 January 2014)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Other Press LLC
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 336
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781590515846

Reviews

[Lianne]

This review in its entirety was originally posted at caffeinatedlife.net: http://www.caffeinatedlife.net/blog/2013/12/23/review-all-russians-love-birch-trees/

All Russians Love Birch Trees is essentially is a slice of life novel (for lack of a better term to describe it), following Masha interact with her family who was forced to flee their homes as borders shift and change, her boyfriend whom she has her ups and downs, her ex-boyfriend to whom she still shares a connection, and various friends. It’s interesting because despite of this close group of people, Masha seems to drift as a person, struggling with scars from the past and the forced uprooted-ness that has essentially coloured the rest of her life. She is able to integrate into different cultures and societies and yet her own sense of identity is unclear at times with no sense of bearing or something to anchor her put.

At the same time this element to Masha is frustrating because she can be a little reckless with these relationships, a little out of step, defensive and closed-off at times. While frustrating, it also makes her character three-dimensional. When tragedy strikes, her grief is clearly palpable.

While I really enjoyed reading the characterisations, reading as Masha struggles to move on with her life, the latter third of the novel moved rather directionless. Perhaps that was intentional but it also left me feeling a little impatient, wondering how it will all turn out. Overall, All Russians Love Birch Trees is a fascinating study of identity, belonging, relationships, the sad consequences of war, and grief.