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Camel from Kyzylkum: A Memoir of My Life Journey
by Lara GelyaPublish: Apr 17, 2022Biographies & MemoirsBook Overview
Camel from Kyzylkum is an award-winning memoir that chronicles the remarkable journey of immigrating from the Soviet Union during the late twentieth century.A woman who grew up in Soviet Ukraine, spent twenty years on geological expeditions in one of the most remote deserts on Earth, and then left everything she had ever known to journey through Austria and Italy as a stateless refugee before stepping off a plane at JFK with nothing but hope.
Arriving in the United States was not the end of her journey—it was the beginning of a new chapter. Learning English as an adult, rebuilding her life from the ground up, working a series of demanding jobs before establishing a successful professional career, and ultimately finding the courage to write this memoir became part of the same remarkable journey.
This is more than an immigration story. It is the story of two lives lived by one woman. Camel from Kyzylkum tells both with honesty, resilience, and quiet strength—qualities that Publishers Weekly, Literary Titan, and Bookshelfie have all recognized as something truly rare.
The "camel" of the title becomes a powerful symbol: a creature built for endurance, carrying its sustenance within, much like the author herself.
At a time when migration, displacement, freedom, and democracy are central to global conversations, Camel from Kyzylkum feels both timely and timeless.
