USSA: The Past Is Another Country — Peter Wludyka

USSA: The Past is Another Country is about what might have been as seenthrough the eyes of 17 year old Alex Nurov, son of a prominent Russian fatherand a beautiful American mother. Growing up on a barrier island nearCharleston, S.C., Alex has to deal with his dual ancestry in a world in whichRussian snobbery views Americans as lazy and parasitic. Alexs unquestioningview of the world gradually unravels when he discovers something he calls TheBook. He soon realizes this is not one of the mysteries he loves to readit is thelunatic ravings of Father Piotr Babulieski who presents an entirely differentand dangerous history of the Great Uprising that produced socialist America. And who is this Jesus Christ? A general?

USSA: The Past is Another Country takes place in vividly described locales in coastal South Carolina and the mountains of North Carolina. Near Charleston, the Nurovfamily lives on a barrier island on which Alex and his beautiful, enigmatic mother swim and share long walks. On the islands northern end is a huge dunethe tops of giant oaks rise from it like the green plume from an extinct volcanowhich is 17 year old Alexs secret place where he reads his mysteries and daydreams far from the prying eyes of student block commander Gregorov.Alex attends school in the old city of Charleston which is used by Alexs history teacher Brownsky as the example of pre Great Uprising America in which the decadent rich exploited the workers and slaves whose toil was converted into luxurious homes for a handful of capitalists.Near the Nurovs mountain house Alexs discovers what he calls The Book. Alexs knows he should turn The Book over to his father. Or at least destroy it. Instead this discovery turns Alex into one of the detectives he admires, drawing him into a dangerous quest to prove that The Book is full of liesor that everything he has been taught is a lie.

There are three women in Alexs lifeAlexs American mother envisions a great future for her son and expects him to pursue the destiny she has earned for him through marriage. She is willing to use her beauty and almost mystical charm to make sure her hopes cometo fruition.Alex is infatuated with a fellow student, the athletic and gorgeous Martina Antipova, a true Russian and the epitome of socialist womanhood. Dedicated, unquestioning and intelligent she is certainly the right choice.While Alexs curiosity about The Book grows, he encounters Celeste, a wispy young American woman. Easy and indifferent to the strict morality that governs Martina Antipova, she introduces Alex to the seamy underbelly of old Charleston and more