Kalani Pickhart

This is an engaging and involving book, set in Ukraine during the 2013-2014 period following protests at Euromaidan, Kyiv after the then President refused to sign an association agreement with the European Union. It presents as something of a scrapbook. The author follows four lives - that of Katya, an American doctor of Ukrainian heritage; Aleksandr, a musician haunted by his KGB past; Misha, whose wife dies of radiation poisoning after Chernobyl; and tough Slava, whose mother sold her into sex-slavery. As the layers of their lives unfold, we realise how connected they are in this time of brutality. Actual newspaper accounts, Ukrainian folksongs are dropped into the non-linear narrative, from which Ukraine and its troubled history emerges as the main protagonist. Pickhart has taken an immense subject. She's humanised it, emphasised its tragedy in a sweeping story which will remain with me as the war in Ukraine continues to dominate our headlines.… (meer)

What to say about this unique historical fiction of Ukraine in the 2013-14 timeframe? It was certainly written by a creative passionate lover of the Ukrainian people. I think it must resonate greatly with Ukrainian people who know and love their country. For me, who has only basic knowledge of Ukraine and it's history, it was not an easy book to read. It seemed disjointed and took much perseverance to finish. The characters were interesting, but it took me over half the book before I related to them as it skips around so much that I would loose track of people and have to try to remember who they were and what the relationships were. This period seems like a microcosm of what began in February 2022. Should Putin have read this book maybe he would have understood that these people are passionate and willing to die for their country and will not be conquered easily if at all. With any luck this ignorance and his egotism, nepotism, and tyranny will destroy him and those who follow him without thinking or reasoning before he obliterates as much of Ukraine as possible. This book certainly contributes to the world's resolve to resist and defend Ukraine's sovereignty by helping us understand the people.… (meer)