Petropolis

Sasha Goldberg is a chubby, biracial Jewish girl living in a bleak apartment block in the town of Asbestos 2 in Siberia. When her father bolts to the United States, Sasha is left to deal with her overbearing mother. At the age of fourteen Sasha falls in love with an art school dropout, but the trouble this causes at home compels Sasha to flee Russia as a mail-order bride. Sasha ends up in suburban Arizona, but she quickly abandons her fiance and heads out on a cross-country quest to find her father. A stunning debut novel, "Petropolis" is brilliantly crafted story of family strife, culture clash and new beginnings.