Reyn weaves throughout Nadia’s story a compelling perspective on twenty-first century motherhood that ricochets between East and West ... Because physical and psychic separation exist between Nadia and Larisska through the bulk of the novel, a sense of loneliness permeates the narrative ... Reyn masterfully draws readers into the constancy of memory throughout the novel, making Ukraine and moments of Nadia’s past life just as present to Nadia as her daily life and work ... a history of a mother’s indomitable love, and the ability to, on a personal level, make peace.
Reyn’s dramatization of this asymmetrical relationship between a nearly assimilated Russian-Jewish employer, dwelling in what the novel calls 'la-la Brooklyn,' and a non-Jewish Ukrainian migrant worker in 'deep Brooklyn,' an hour away by train, adds complexity to the landscape of post-Soviet immigrant literature ... Reyn captures another painful aspect of the migrant experience: being an obvious outsider and a target for manipulation doesn’t prevent one from also being invisible ... Nadia is also compelling because she is flawed ... Reyn lets readers glimpse the potential for empathy and solidarity between two women who, for different reasons, cannot realize that potential.
