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Risk-taking comes naturally for author Mary Kay Zuravleff. As the descendent of Russian Orthodox immigrants who mined coal, Zuravleff might say it’s in her blood. After writing three literary novels with contemporary settings, she pivoted and penned a work of historical fiction rooted in her own family’s story, American Ending.
Zuravleff’s previous work has garnered literary awards and grants and her latest seems to be headed on the same trajectory. Man Alive! was a Washington Post Notable Book in 2013 and her first novel, The Frequency of Souls, won the American Academy’s Rosenthal Family Foundation Award. This spring, American Ending made the coveted list of Oprah Winfrey’s Best Books for Spring prior to its June 6 release date.
American Ending opens in Marianna, Pennsylvania, in 1908, with a young Yelena narrating: “I hoped the sisters I’d never met would never join us, and when they did arrive, I wanted to send them back—that’s how American I am.”
The novel follows Zuravleff’s feisty, first-generation American protagonist through the arrival of two elder sisters from the old country and the early years of Yelena’s marriage to an Old Believer Russian Orthodox immigrant. The couple starts a family and moves to Erie, Pennsylvania, to escape the coal mines. The culminating scene involves a visit from a census taker in 1920 and previously appeared as an excerpt in Furious Gravity: Volume IX in the Grace & Gravity Series, founded by Richard Peabody. Melissa Scholes Young, editor of the series, calls Zuravleff “a master storyteller. In sophisticated, lyrical prose, she makes an immigration story fresh and poignant.”
When asked about the difference between her previous work and her most recent novel, Zuravleff responds: “When I gave readings [for the first three books], people would ask where on earth I got my ideas, or they’d praise the wordplay. But presenting this novel, I’ve been rushed by people who are moved to tell me how America wronged them, what single act of generosity saved their great-grandmother from starving, or who struggled before them so they could get this far. The deep wounds and feelings in the audience are remarkable, and I feel privileged that hearing some of my book inspires them to share.”
Zuravleff fictionalized her own family history using archival material from both sides of her family tree: descendants who immigrated from Russia, shared a religion, and worked in coal mines before relocating to Erie where they lived four blocks apart. Zuravleff’s cousin is now priest of Erie’s Russian Orthodox parish.
Writing historical fiction about her family gave Zuravleff a chance to connect with her past. She tells City Paper that Yelena’s “ma” is a combination of both of her grandmothers, while the protagonist is a combination of herself and her mother. Unsurprisingly, the process of writing American Ending spawned conversations between the author and her own mother about Old Believers.
“I called her one day to ask if there’s something sinful about telling stories—is that why there are no novels about these folks? We decided that most fundamentalist religions are wary of sharing their lives with outsiders, not to mention making things up.”
Those processing conversations and decisions led Zuravleff to have her protagonist to make some of the same realizations. “I gave Yelena the insight that maybe they [Old Believers] made some rules—no meat, milk, or eggs during Easter and Christmas Lent as well as Wednesday, Friday, and on saints’ days—to turn poverty into piety,” she says.
In addition to writing, Zuravleff serves as a supportive member within the D.C. literary community. She credits some of her involvement to Susan Shreve, the first person she met in D.C. when she moved here in the 1980s. Shreve co-founded the Master of Fine Arts program at George Mason University and eventually recruited Zuravleff to teach. “[One] semester I offered a class where we all, including me, wrote an entire novel in one semester,” Zuravleff recalls. “We banged out 4,000 words a week for 10 weeks, read five novels under 50,000 words, and five books on craft! We were proud of ourselves when it was over.” Zuravleff has also led fiction workshops at American University.
Zuravleff’s ongoing support of other writers never ceases. “I’ve taught dozens of talented novices who went on to publish books and stories.” Those writers include Rion Amilcar Scott, Alyson Foster, Priyanka Champaneri, Ryan Call, Caron Martinez, Colleen Kearney Rich, and Sam Ashworth. She founded NoveltyDC in 2015 to offer her services as a writing coach.
On Saturday, June 17, Zuravleff will be in conversation with Alice McDermott at Politics and Prose to discuss her fourth novel, American Ending. Readers can also hear Zuravleff during her book tour in and around D.C., including her appearance at GMU where she will read at Fall For the Book during the literary festival in October.
Mary Kay Zuravleff discusses American Ending with Alice McDermott at 5 p.m. on June 17 at Politics and Prose’s Connecticut Avenue location. politics-prose.com. Free.
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