Buy Patient Women
Larissa Shmailo’s Patient Women tells the story of Nora, a gifted young
woman who comes of age in New York against heavy odds. Her Russian
mother is demanding; the young men around her are uncaring; and her
dependence on drink and sex leads her to a shadowy life filled with
self-made demons. Yet Nora’s intelligence pulls her through the
difficult times—there are even moments of (very) dark humor here. As
well, an appendix of poems attributed to Nora lets us into the corners
of her heart and mind.
—Thaddeus Rutkowski, author of Haywire
Larissa Shmailo’s novel, Patient Women (and the title is absolutely
meaningful, in so many ways), is a brutally honest wrestling match of
truth-telling and sex. I had to put this book down and walk away from it
more than once; it was a bit like holding a hot coal in my hands. And
even though the subject matter is over the top, the writing is
stylistically brilliant. Absolutely recommended!
—Ron Kolm, author of Suburban Ambush and editor, Evergreen Review
Larissa Shmailo's Patient Women explores the intersection of mind and
body, posing several compelling philosophical questions to the reader:
Is gender biological or do we inscribe these social categories through
our use of language? Is it possible to separate one's intellect from
one's physical being? To what extent is language itself tactile and
embodied? As Shmailo teases out possible answers to these questions,
she utilizes a variety of literary forms, which include diary entries,
appendices, poems, and vignettes. Formally adventurous and engaging,
Shmailo's book is as artfully written as it is thought provoking,
offering us stylistic innovation that is both daring and meaningful.
—Kristina Marie Darling, author of Scorched Altar: Selected Poems & Stories 2007-2014.
Christ-figures are likely to be cross-dressers in this engaging
bildungsroman, which takes us on a wild ride through NYC nightclubs of
the 1970's, rock-bottom blackouts, a whorehouse, and the slogan-filled
rooms of recovery. Surreal and lyrical, then bawdy and riotous, then
plainspoken and tragic, Patient Women had me rooting hard for its
lovable, drowning heroine to keep her head above water and let in grace.
— Anne Elliott, www.AnneElliottStories.com
Nora, born to a holocaust survivor mother, finds herself, at the
threshold of adolescence in “boring Queens”. Lying about her age, her
first transgression from her mother’s iron rule, she begins a series of
ill-fated attempts to put distance between herself and the familial web
she so desperately wants to disentangle from. She reels from one
dysfunctional relationship to another, druggies, pimps, losers and
masochists, searching for her lovable self. This novel unfolds in a
whirlwind that is sometimes dream, sometimes nightmare yet, at it’s
core, is an honest tale of one woman’s coming to terms with her past in
order to claim her present. Be ready to have your heart broken and then
made whole.
—Bonny Finberg, author of Kali’s Day
Larissa Shmailo’s newest work, Patient Women, is an unflinching
exploration of the lasting damage some people can inflict on their
children. Nora, Shmailo’s protagonist, evolves as she struggles to
understand and heal her own self-hatred and her on-going
self-destructive choices. Slogging one's way through a morass of denial
and repression is a strong trope throughout this raw, honest book. Nora
is fiercely vulnerable and the sympathetic hero of her own salvation.
This novel is dark, but there is hope that even the pain one lives
through can cause one to create, finally, lasting and beautiful art.
—Joani Reese, author of Dead Letters (Cervena Barva Press) and Night Chorus, forthcoming from Lit Fest Press
accomplished poet, editor, and translator (see my review of her poetry in 
