Still Here

Vapnyar's intriguing third novel (The Scent of Pine; Memoirs of a Muse) follows four school friends from Moscow who all immigrated to New York City. Sergey and Vica are unhappily married, mostly owing to his lack of success as an analyst, and his obsession with developing a strange new app. "Virtual Grave" would allow users to continue to communicate with loved ones who have passed on via their social media personas. We also hear from Sergey's best friend Vadik and ex-girlfriend Regina. Regina married a rich American, Bob, who works with Vadik, a programmer; she spends a lot of time alone in her luxury apartment before a trip back to Russia changes her life. Vadik cycles through girlfriends he meets online and documents his thoughts on Twitter and Tumblr. While the affairs of these four characters are not exactly riveting, the small, well-chosen details and eerily accurate descriptions of their Internet habits carry the narrative.