Dr. Lisa Williams, Ph.D., Professor of Literature at Ramapo College, will discuss her recently published book, Forget Russia (Tailwinds Press, 2020) with Dr. Santamaría Laorden, Associate Professor of Spanish at Ramapo College of New Jersey. Gross Center Director, Dr. Michael A. Riff will act as moderator. The program will be delivered virtually via Zoom on Thursday, March 18 at 7 p.m. It will be presented under the auspices of the Gross Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies and is free and open to the public. Registration to attend via Zoom is at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/novel-delving-into-the-russian-jewish-experience-to-be-discussed-tickets-140699503001

Forget Russia is a strong, stirring tale about Anna, a college student who during a semester in Moscow discovers details about her family that will change her life. She knows that her grandparents, who met and married in America, willingly returned to Russia in 1931 with their little girls—Anna’s mother and her younger sister—then fled back to the United States.  The book’s narration alternates among time periods revealing painful memories of the past and experiences of the present that shape the future. Williams is an experienced writer who uses her craft to mold a passionate story that has much to tell about being part of a family with a rich and complicated history as well as coming of age in contemporary Russia and America.