A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR ( MARIE CLAIRE ): A sweeping historical fiction novel about the fall of
the Soviet Union told through the eyes of Ukrainian mothers and daughters over 4 decades "An
astute deeply empathic portrayal of the dislocation of first-generation immigrants and
intergenerational trauma" -- Financial Times In this stunning work of political historical
fiction loaded with "vibrancy and humour" the collapse of the Soviet Union reverberates
throughout multiple generations of 2 families--presaging and foreshadowing conflicts in
Russia's Ukraine War ( TLS ). As a child Lena longs to pick hazelnuts in the woods with her
grandmother. Instead she is raised to be a good socialist: sent to Pioneer summer camps where
she's taught to worship Lenin and sing songs in praise of the glorious Soviet Union. But
perestroika is coming. Lena's corner of the USSR is now Ukraine and corruption and patronage
are the only ways to get by--to secure a place at university an apartment treatment for a
sick baby. For Tatjana the shock of the new means the first McDonald's in the Soviet Union and
certified foreign whisky but no food in the shops it means terrible choices about how to
love. Eventually both women must decide whether to stay or to emigrate but the trauma they
carry is handed down to their daughters who struggle to make sense of their own identities.
Engrossing rich in detail and full of unforgettable characters this is a captivating love
letter to mothers and daughters from one of Europe's most powerful voices in political fiction.
