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Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite
In Fine, Thanks for Asking!, Alla Umanskiy writes about what lies behind the familiar answer that everything is fine. Born in Soviet Ukraine, she arrives in Atlanta at ten after her family leaves in search of a safer future. As an adult, Umanskiy raises two daughters in the American South, where the Christmas season makes her determined to pass on the Jewish customs she grew up with. Memories of her grandmother shape her understanding of the family traditions she hopes her children will remember. Although Atlanta has become home, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine reminds her of the strong connection she still feels to her childhood homeland. Across these personal essays, Umanskiy writes about the ordinary routines she treasures and the feelings that can be difficult to share, even with the people closest to her.
Alla Umanskiy’s Fine, Thanks for Asking! is a thoughtful collection of essays, and the author writes about her uncertainties with total openness. Her conversational style gives the book a wonderfully familiar feeling, especially when she admits how long it took to recognize her own accomplishments. I loved how useful her experiences can be to readers questioning the value of their work. A relative calls Umanskiy’s nationally published article a hobby, and her eventual decision to call herself a writer is especially satisfying. As someone who lives with some pretty intense anxiety, I was touched by the author’s honesty about living with anxiety herself. This is why 'Making the Invisible Visible' is my favorite, where she describes finding a psychiatrist and medication that helps her and explains why she teaches her daughters that asking for help is important. Sometimes it takes a little more than divine intervention. It takes a bit of serotonin salvation. Well written and heartfelt, readers who enjoy honest, true, and relatable memoirs will adore this.
