For many of her readers, this novel will be their introduction to the Holodomor, when Stalin intentionally starved to death millions of Ukrainians, then repopulated the emptied villages with Russians and Belarussians. I really enjoyed learning more about how books can both affect and reflect memory in different ways. If you’re at all interested in historical fiction, Ukraine/Russia, and little known pieces of history, I highly recommend this novel. Litteken cuts back and forth between a young widow in 2004 Illinois and her grandmother’s life in 1930, expertly weaving in recent hope along with stories of long-ago horror.

I liked the premise of the story, particularly as it is grounded in facts and the author’s inspiration was her great-grandmother. That this book is being published as Ukraine is facing horrific violence and human tragedy at the hands of the Russian government again, makes this a must read novel. Ideally, I think there should've been only the Holodomor storyline, which is what's going to sell this book and what the title advertises. Cassie’s developing relationship with Nick seems to belong to another book; it might have been more effective if the author had delved more into the growth of Katya’s love for Kolya, a boy in the village, mirroring healing—or not—from survivor’s guilt. It is quite surreal, almost absurd that this book has come out in a year where history seems to be repeating itself.Drawing on the work of Ukrainian scholars, Applebaum has given us the best account in English of Stalin’s war against Ukraine. Consequently, she becomes aware of her grandmother’s journal written in Ukrainian many years earlier. He is a font of knowledge, especially when it comes to history, and putting historical events into perspective when it comes to current events. But now this aging grandmother is developing symptoms of dementia, and those memories from long ago are beginning to arise. The Holodomor, which was the result of the Soviet socialist's arbitrary agricultural plan, was a man-made disaster.

There's a peasant rebellion in which one of the main characters fights, but we never see or hear of it. Two timelines unfold at breakneck pace: sixteen year old Katya witnesses the arrival of Soviet activists to her tiny Ukrainian village and struggles to hold her family together through Stalin's systematic starvation of her country--seventy years later, a young widow struggles to understand why her tough-as-nails grandmother is haunted by ghosts and hoarding food as if it will be taken away at any moment. simultaneously shines an unflinching light on historical atrocities while it celebrates the resilience of the human spirit. Living through lifetimes of being full boat annihilated and all their goods, homes, cultural mores, religion being taken away from them by government. The historical time line covers Bobbie's story beginning as a young bride and through the holodomor.

Ms Litteken’s great grandmother was Ukaranian and this book is a fictionalised account of those dreadful days. I never imagined the release of my novel on a past oppression of the Ukrainian people would coincide with such a parallel tragedy. I based the idea of this fictional village in Tetiiv Raion of the southwest Kyiv oblast area because that was one of the hardest hit areas during the Holodomor. I was gifted this advance copy by Erin Litteken, Boldwood Books and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

She draws inspiration from her family roots, and in particular, her great-grandmother’s stories about life in Ukraine before, during, and after WWII. This is just prior to Stalin’s invasion and takes us through the horrendous period of the Holodomor when millions of Ukrainians were starved to death. It is the story of a Ukranian family’s survival of the Holodomor, Stalin forced starvation of Ukrainians. People displaced, ripped from their homes, family and culture in the most horrifying way, only to then be subjected to the horrors of World War 2.It’s important because it gives context to the current conflict – the invasion of the Ukraine by Russia, or Putin to be more precise. It handsomely met the third criterion by being a powerful page-turner throughout, so I finished it within two days despite being pretty busy with other things. In the author’s notes, Litteken reports that 1 in 8 Ukrainians died during this time and the country lost almost 13% of its population.

While most of the extreme triggers aren’t detailed out directly, what’s happening behind the screen is enough to induce nightmares.A monument to the Jewish victims was finally erected by the newly independent Ukrainian government in 1991. It's no different here: if you read only the chapters with Katya's POV in Ukraine, the story is great, touchingly told, and very harrowing because the suffering is immense and unbearable. Trina wrote: "I have just finished the book and don't mind admitting I "ugly cried" I need to take some time to process what I've read before writing my review. Cassie, a recent widow is floundering in life when she gets the opportunity to work on her grandmother’s journal.