Stories from Before

Before entering the United States for the first time and settling in St. Louis, Missouri, these students packed up their histories and memories. Here, in more than forty collected stories, the new voices of immigrants living in St. Louis recount tales both dramatic and mundane: A Liberian tells of inheriting the role of chief witch doctor from his uncle at the age of nine. A Bosnian tells of being rescued by a fishing boat from drowning in the Adriatic Sea. A Russian vividly remembers the smell of fresh bread and cold milk after returning from the siege of Leningrad. The stories these immigrants tell, writing in their new language, will resonate with anyone who has made or observed a similar difficult transition. Sometimes the desire to assimilate is in conflict with the need to maintain the connection to the home of the heart. The contributors of these stories range in age from eleven to eighty-three. The language is elegant and simple, as one would expect from writers who suddenly find themselves reveling in a new but still unfamiliar language.