Pasha

Pasha Nasmertov is one of the two main characters of the novel “Panic in a Suitcase” by Yelena Akhtiorskaya. Pasha, born in 1956, is a native of Odessa, Ukraine, is immensely talented as a writer of published poetry, and is infamous among his family members for being slow at whatever he does. He is also held in contempt of the family for converting from Judaism to Orthodox Christianity, as a matter of belief and political convenience.

He is the uncle of Frida, brother of Marina, son of Robert and Esther, first husband of Nadia, second husband of Sveta, and father of Sanya. In 1993, Pasha visits New York’s Brighton Beach in July, where most of his family has relocated, and where his mother is battling cancer. The family hopes that Pasha will immigrate to the United States for good, but Pasha is largely noncommittal. Eventually, he decides to begin...