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The Protagonist by Elisa Rand
While living in New York, Rand finished her first novel, We The Living. She follows a strong woman who wants to be an engineer but finds herself blocked at every step by the communist culture. It is pretty autobiographical, drawing on Rand's life back in Russia when she was still Elisa Rosenbaum. But in the book, unlike Rand, never makes it out. And in the end, it all ends very badly. She tries to escape. She's shot by a border of guard. A moment of eternity did it matter. Life undefeated existed and could exist. That smile said so much that had been possible.