The Last Paradise by Anthony Garrido starts out in depression New York in 1931. Jack Beilis desperately seeking work to feed himself and his father is forced (or tricked) into joining the workers seeking to make a new life for themselves and their families in Russia.
Stalin’s Russia is not the workers’ paradise that Jack and his fellow Americans were longing for – hunger, cold, exploitation and political intrigue. At first Jack seems to be prospering at the expense of many of his compatriots but is his success just an illusion? There seems to be no way back to the US.
The Last Paradise moves at a good pace and had enough twists to keep me interested. The historical detail made me want to read more about the period
3.5/5