Sasha Goldberg protagonist of Petropolis

Study painting in a flooded basement

Have a baby

Get a makeover by the Kupid's Korner Bridal Agency

Go on a date to an all-meat buffet

Learn English

Struggle with the art of housecleaning

Fall in love

Run away

Come home

with Sasha Goldberg!

Sasha Goldberg (Figure 1) is a biracial, Jewish, socially maladjusted "child of the intelligentsia" from the Siberian town Asbestos 2. Sasha's father takes off for the U.S., leaving Sasha to navigate adolescence under the shadow of her overbearing mother. At fourteen, Sasha falls in love with an art school dropout who lives in a concrete half-pipe in the town's dump. When following her heart gets her into trouble at home, Sasha leaves Russia as a mail-order bride and, with the help of the Kupid's Korner Agency, lands in suburban Arizona. Soon, she escapes her Red Lobster- loving fiance and embarks on a misadventure-filled journey across America in search of her father.
PETROPOLIS is a satire and a love story. It's also about racism, academic art training, cross-cultural confusion, religion (and lack thereof), sex, class conflict, overweening charity, and three different kinds of mothers.

Read the reviews!