Susan Wolfgram's Journey
Born as Tatiana Mendeeva in a Russian orphanage and sent to work as a seamstress at the famous Bolshoi Theatre, she is transported to England on an illegal passport, renamed, and forced to work for the woman who spirited her out of Russia. When her presence becomes an inconvenience, Susan is transported again, this time to the United States, to work for the woman’s twin sister, a shady dealer in so-called exotic cats. Fleeing an assault, Susan runs for safety, taking a large sum of her employer’s cash. On her own at last, desperate to find a way to live, in spite of having no legal status in the U.S., Susan searches for a place to call home.
Here is a story of a young woman’s resilience, search for belonging, and fierce determination to build meaning into a life on the fringe of society.
About the author
Nikki Herbst went to Russia in 1997, returned home with a daughter, and hasn’t been the same since. Prior to that she obtained advanced degrees in English and music performance and loved being at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop as a poet. She currently splits her time between a home called Longways in Hawthorne, Florida, and a number of elsewheres. She teaches folk dance, is the Pipe Sergeant with a regional Highland pipe and drum band, is an active photographer, and enjoys solo wilderness canoeing, hiking, and home improvement projects, for which there is always an endless need. The Needle in the Selvage is her first novel.
