First published 2009
Vladimir Brik, a Bosnian immigrant living in Chicago, becomes obsessed with the story of Lazarus Averbuch, a young Jewish immigrant killed by police in 1908. Brik secures funding to research Lazarus's death and travels to Eastern Europe with his photographer friend Rora. As Brik investigates the century-old tragedy, he confronts his own displacement and the weight of history. The narrative moves between two time periods, following both Lazarus's final days in early twentieth-century Chicago and Brik's contemporary journey through Bosnia and Ukraine. Brik searches for traces of Lazarus's life while grappling with his own identity as an outsider in America. The investigation becomes deeply personal as Brik recognizes parallels between Lazarus's experience and his own struggles with belonging. Through this dual narrative, the novel explores how the past echoes in the present and how immigrants carry the burden of multiple worlds.
Genres: literary-fiction, american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, 21st-century
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: dual-narrative, fish-out-of-water, personal-investigation
Setting: Chicago, Bosnia, Ukraine
Period: Early 20th Century, Contemporary
ebook · Picador USA