This book was a little difficult to read initially due to the dialectical expressions, but they sound true. A good example of an omniscient narrator, we get to see the story of Vaclav and Lena, two kids born in Russia but who ended up in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. The story is strongly sided with Vaclav for the first half, mostly I think because we're not supposed to know what's going on with Lena in the beginning. Vaclav's mother, Rasia, is also an important character. Vaclav wants to be a magician. Lena will be his assistant. They are planning a performance at Coney Island, but then Lena is gone. The following sections show Vaclav and Lena apart and grown up. We get a better idea of Lena here. And then they are together again, obsessively, catastrophically, healingly together.