”A Mountain of Crumbs” is the moving story of a young Soviet girl`s discovery of the hidden truths of adulthood & her country`s profound political deception. Elena, born with a desire to explore the world beyond her borders, finds her passion in the complexity of the English language
- but in the Soviet Union of the 1960s, such a passion verges on the subversive. Elena`s home is no longer the majestic Russia of literature or the tsars. Instead, it is a nation humiliated by its first faltering steps after World War II, putting up appearances for the sake of its regime & fighting to retain its pride. In this deeply affecting memoir, Elena re-creates the world that both oppressed & inspired her. She recounts stories passed down to her about the horrors of the Bolshevik Revolution & probes the daily deprivations & small joys of her family`s bunkerlike existence. Through Elena`s captivating voice, we learn not only the personal story of Russia in the second half of the twentieth century, but also the story of one rebellious citizen whose love of a foreign language finally transports her to a new world. ` This moving memoir made me cry`
- ” The New York Times.”