RaveThe Independent (UK)Krasikov\'s heroines are something between escorts and girlfriends. Cohabiting with elderly admirers and slack-bellied deadbeats they sell themselves short in order to get what they want: a visa and a chance to say farewell to the limited horizons of the East ... Love is what everyone wants, but in this world of illegal status and marrying strangers to get residency, everything reduces to the level of a transaction ... While most stories of modern immigration concentrate on the pangs of exile or the thrills of re-invention, Krasikov succeeds in capturing an experience that is neither one thing or another.
Min Jin Lee
PositiveThe IndependentWhile Lee has nothing radical to add to the immigrant narrative, her confident storytelling and glitzy portraits of Manhattan life make the novel a pleasurable, engrossing read.
