About
After growing up a concert pianist in late Soviet Russia, River Adams (they/them) came to America as a Jewish refugee. They graduated from Rosemont College and Harvard Divinity School, then returned to Philadelphia to teach religious studies and work as a medical interpreter for Russian-speaking patients. Today, having earned an MFA from Emerson College, they live in Massachusetts, caring for their large, noisy family and writing. Their short prose has appeared in many publications, including The Common, BOMB, Bellevue Literary Review, Post Road, Commonweal, Descant, and others. They are the author of a biography of Leonard Swidler, There Must Be YOU (Resource Publications, 2014). Their debut novel, The Light of Seven Days (Delphinium Books, 2023), was named finalist by the National Jewish Book Award and honor title in debut novel category by the Massachusetts Book Awards.
Featured Work
The Light of Seven Days
Living with her Babby after her parents’ death, 10-year-old Dinah Ash is invited to train at Leningrad’s legendary Vaganova Ballet School. In the world of elite dance, she works hard, falls in love, and weathers the Soviet Union’s ubiquitous antisemitism, but despite an impressive talent, she quickly learns that dancers of her “profile” don’t make prima ballerinas.
Love of Leningrad, ballet, friends, family, and books sustain Dinah until history intervenes. The Soviet war in Afghanistan, the rise of perestroika, and a re-emergence of Nazism leave her vulnerable and exposed. Realizing escape is her only option, she applies for refugee status in America.
Dinah’s adjustment to life in the US is a test as much of her identity as of her perseverance. Is who she is something Dinah can forge on her own? Or is identity imposed by upbringing, public opinion, and the myths of our cultures? As Dinah struggles with the questions of religion, race, and worth, her choices and the people she encounters will determine whether the dream of a better life can survive the weight of the past.
