AVAILABLE FORMATS

ABOUT THE ATLAS OF REMEDIES

“Jaskunas reminds us that immigration stories, like those of our own families, are important tales with common cause to collectively weave our threads into the larger cloth, the greater American story. Add this one to the list for your book club.”
—Robert Miltner, author of Orpheus & Echo and Ohio Apertures

Frightened that the grippe will steal away the life of her beloved cousin Marija, the only family she has in New York, Karolina steps out into the cold and unforgiving city streets to buy chamomile flowers, a tried-and-true remedy from her old life in Lithuania. Meanwhile, her children struggle to navigate through Russian-occupied Europe to reach the port of Hamburg and sail to America for a desperately sought reunion.

Set in 1901, Paul Jaskunas’s multi-generational immigrant saga in-miniature nimbly blends historical realism with a dreamlike aesthetic to create a unique and arresting portrait of one family fervently hoping that America will make good on its promise.

PRAISE FOR THE ATLAS OF REMEDIES

"Like any good fairy tale told over a steaming cup of chamomile tea by a winter fire, this short book delights with dark woods, perilous quests, animal familiars, and kindly strangers, but its simplicity is deceptive, and it soon weaves into a gentle meditation on worlds Old and New, on losses big and small, and on the gift of human connection, both familial and fleeting. One of the most moving stories I have read in recent years." 
—Olga Grushin, author of The Charmed Wife and Forty Rooms 

“This propulsive, cross-continental adventure story about the boundlessness of familial love beguiles and surprises. Paul Jaskunas’s writing is gorgeous and precise, and his affection for these characters illuminates every page. The Atlas of Remedies is a dazzling accomplishment. ”
—Michelle Ross, author of Shapeshifting, They Kept Running and There’s So Much They Haven’t Told You

A deeply moving and tense look into the lives of immigrants in America and Europe at the dawn of the twentieth century. Jaskunas gives us a heartbreaking, exhilarating story of two countries and one divided family. Written with acute observation, this is a beautifully told tale of separation, hardship and longing that will move and enthrall. I loved these people and never wanted to leave them.”
—Edward Carey, author of Little and The Swallowed Man

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Paul Jaskunas is the author of the novel Hidden (Free Press), which won the Friends of American Writers Award, and of Mother Ship, a poetry chapbook forthcoming from Finishing Line Press. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, America, Tab: The Journal of Poetry & Poetics, and The Vilnius Review, among many other publications. Since 2008, he has taught literature and writing at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, where he edits Full Bleed, an annual journal devoted to the intersection of the visual and literary arts.  

For more news and press, check out Paul’s website.