In America

The Volcano Lover, Susan Sontag's last novel, retold the love story of Emma, Lady Hamilton and Lord Nelson with consummate power. In her enthralling new novel - once again based on a real story - Sontag shows us America on the cusp of modernity. In 1876 a group of Poles led by Maryna Zalewska, Poland's greatest actress, travels to California to found a 'utopian' commune. Maryna, who was renounced her career, is accompanied by her small son and husband; in her entourage is a rising young writer who is in love with her. The novel portrays a West that is still largely empty, where white settlers confront native Californians and Asian coolies. The image of America, and of California - as fantasy, as escape, as radical simplification - constantly meets a more complex reality. The commune fails and most of the emigres go home, but Maryna stays and triumphs on the American stage.