by Wallace Henley

Could the USA ever become as repressive as the Soviet Union once was? Could the now-independent states in the old Soviet Union become what the USA once was--one nation under God? Wallace Henley, a White House staff assistant during the Nixon administration, sees such a reversal of former roles as a real possibility within the next quarter-century. Henley's new novel, Escape from America, illustrates how this could occur. The central character is Alex Bozamov, an idealistic and ambitious young senior editor of Pravda, who is sickened by the Soviet media's sacrifice of truth on the altar of Marxist expediency. Bozamov exposes a political coverup of the Chernobyl disaster and is forced to flee with his wife to the USA, leaving behind his sons, whom he reared to be good Marxists. Locating in the nation's capital, Bozamov becomes a star writer of the Washington Tribune. Assigned to write a series on dissent in America, he displeases his editor, Taylor Willingham, with a story on a rally of rescuers. The problem of your story, says Willingham, is that you seem to focus on the issue of abortion as allegedly murder. That was the theme of the meeting I was sent to cover, Bozamov replies. These people believe abortion is murder, and that's why they stage these rescues. But you miss the larger issue, Willingham counters. These people are denying the right of other people to make choices about their bodies. That's where the threat to democracy lies. You almost make these people sound natural.' Bozamov rewrites the story so that readers would know clearly these were fanatics who were a threat to democracy in America. Forgiven, Bozamov is next reprimanded for writing about police brutality during a pro-life protest. Bozamov angers his editor by noting that the paper had published a story about police brutality at a gay rally. Bozamov redeems himself by a glowing story on Societies for Awakening Global Energies (SAGE), an alliance of politically correct activists bent on establishing a new global consciousness that celebrates the oneness of all things. Then Bozamov becomes uneasy when the law forbids parents and churches to indoctrinate and evangelize children under 18. He writes the story straight, which infuriates his editor. Personal concerns envelop Bozamov when his suicidal wife is led to Christ by a former Russian communist. Bozamov himself becomes a Christian and is fired by the paper. Unable to get published in America, Bozamov sends a story on AIDS to a Russian free paper and is arrested for failing to get permission from the Justice and State departments. While out on bond, Bozamov flees with his wife back to the former Soviet Union, where he will have freedom to write his convictions.