Diverse characters at center of ‘Russian Dreambook’

Set in post-Soviet Russia, “The Russian Dreambook of Color and Flight” brings together a diverse group bound by collective suffering and hope for the future.

A dilapidated apartment building houses a melting pot of Jews, Christians and Muslims from across Eastern Europe. Though they are divided by country tradition, gender and religion, they are united by circumstance, poverty, despair and survival.

Olga works for a military newspaper, translating the truth into something more palatable to the public and government.

Olga’s son, Yuri, lives with her, along with his girlfriend. The young army veteran’s obsessed with fishing, considering the finned creatures more honorable than men.

Also in the building lives Tanya, who always carries with her a notebook in which to record her dreams of a better life.

Lurking among these and other living residents is Mircha, who fell from the roof and died. The ground’s so frozen he can’t be buried properly, so his spirit lingers, offering insight and only-sometimes-helpful advice to his fairly annoyed wife and neighbors.

These characters drive Gina Ochsner’s “Russian Dreambook,” which is more a study of the human condition than it is a lesson in plot development.

The only real story line beyond survival comes when Tanya, who works at the run-down All-Russia All-Cosmopolitan Museum, learns that an American group will be visiting — and possibly investing — if Tanya can convince them that the ramshackle establishment, filled with displays made out of everything from foam to gum, is deserving.

Tanya enlists the help of her neighbors in her effort to secure the funding, as she sees the money as a way to escape her bleak reality.

Ochsner’s creative writing skills shine in her debut novel, especially with her use of colorful imagery. However, some readers may be put off by the slugging plot.

But plot is not the point of “Russian Dreambook.” The characters are very much the focus of the author, who paints them all as fallible and resilient as cruelty and nobility collide.