PANIC IN A SUITCASE

Stefan Rudnicki takes listeners into the midst of the wonderful, funny, crazy characters in this debut novel. The Nasmertov family leaves Odessa in 1991 for Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, looking for their share of the American dream. After two years, they’ve made a life for themselves among Brooklyn’s Ukrainian Jews. Rudnicki colors their stories with all the dark humor, varied emotion, and bittersweet tones of a melancholy violin. From Robert and Esther, respected doctors back in Odessa, to Pasha, their poet son who has remained in the old country, the novel is less about the current crisis in Ukraine and more about the universal experience of immigrants everywhere. Rudnicki offers perfect pronunciations of Yiddish expressions, and his superb performance removes all distance between listener and characters. S.J.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2014]