276°
Posted 20 hours ago

The Memory Keeper of Kyiv: The most powerful, important historical novel of 2022

£6.495£12.99Clearance
ZTS2023's avatar
Shared by
ZTS2023
Joined in 2023
82
63

About this deal

Katya’s story is powerful. The hardships the Ukrainians had to endure at the hands of the Soviets is inconceivable and brutal and in the midst of it is a beautiful love story which helps propel Katya forward when it would be understandable to give up. Forced into famine with her family along with the rest of Ukraine, she must find a way to survive.

Perhaps I know too much about immigrant Ukrainians to IL and also their first generation. Or Croatians, or Polish, or Lithuanians, or Slovaks. But maybe it is the form of this writing. Both I think. The common threads of love, hope, resilience and loss are woven through both timelines to produce a reimagined story and an informative read about actual events in history the Russian government denies. Breathtaking. Devastating. Erin Litteken’s The Memory Keeper of Kyiv chronicles a defining but forgotten moment of Ukrainian history.” Amanda McCrina, author of The Silent Unseen In a Nutshell: A historical timeline that is almost painful to read because of its brutal depiction of the realities of Ukrainian life under Stalin’s collectivization scheme. The contemporary timeline is decent but pales in comparison. Still, I would count this as a must-read book.What?? I never reviewed this glorious book that I read in October 2022. A dual timeline that takes us from the present day to 1930's Soviet Ukraine and the tragedy of the great famine( Holodomor). I give this book five stars because it is something that needs to be read. How can this genocide be happening again less than 100 years later? Erin Litteken timely debut novel "The Memory Keeper of Kyiv" does just that by telling, in dual time frames, the story of 16 year old Katya and her survival of the Great Famine starting in 1930 and her granddaughter, Cassie, gradually learning her "Bobby's" history she had kept hidden. I read this novel in one day because Katya's story is an example of indomitable spirit, courage and love in the face of unimaginable horror. Cassie's story's weaker but was a relief as she has also known loss that is put in perspective as she learns the hidden history of her grandmother. A compelling story that kept my attention (and caused some tears) right until the end. I enlisted my family to help me recreate some of the family recipes we hadn’t made in a while. It was really special to get everyone together, prepare the food my great-grandmother used to make for us, and teach my children those traditions. The Memory Keeper of Kyiv Book Club Questions: Did you sample any interesting food while researching this book? Or experience anything exciting while researching?

Have you heard of the Holodomor, the forced famine in 1930s Ukraine? I hadn’t, although I knew of Stalin’s collectivisation. In Ukraine, an estimated 3.9 million people perished. In the words of a character in this novel: “Everyone wants Ukraine’s fertile soil for their own, and nobody wants to let Ukrainians rule it.” Any book about that country needs to be read, to widen our understanding of what its people have suffered. It’s the same story every time, for centuries. Everyone wants Ukraine’s fertile soil for their own, and nobody wants to let Ukrainians rule it. “ Set in Ukraine in the early 1930s, this book tells the story of Katya and her family. In the present day Cassie and her family live in Illinois. The dual timeline takes us from the horrors of the Holodomor, when Stalin’s regime forced the collectivisation of farms across the Soviet Union and one family’s fight for survival, and the present day where Cassie has to learn to live without the love of her life.Some survived, most did not. This is a story of a family that would have lived during those times and how they might have survived. It is also a story of Katya after the Homodor and how she dealt with the aftermath and survivor's guilt. A story of her daughter and granddaughter and how on her death bed she finally found peace.

I strongly encourage you to read this book about Ukraine as a book club. As you know, history repeats itself and the parallels of the historical events in the novel to current events is harrowing. Litteken is a careful researcher, and she fleshes out this history in her detailed author’s note following the novel. She also mentions that she was originally motivated to write the story of how her great-grandmother and her family fled their Ukrainian village during World War II, but then learned of the Holodomor and knew that this story had to come first. It’s astonishing that the same family had to deal with so much misery, and I imagine Litteken’s next book will be just as compelling. Despite the issues I had with the modern timeline, the historical part of the book was enough for me to be a satisfied reader. ( In fact, the book might have worked better as a historical story focussing only on the Holodomor instead of having the dual narrative.) It is a great debut work and I will surely love to read more by this author. In 1929, Katya is 16 years old, surrounded by family and in love with the boy next door. When Stalin’s activists arrive in her village, it’s just a few, a little pressure to join the collective. But soon neighbours disappear, those who speak out are never seen again and every new day is uncertain.As sparks fly between the young widow and the hunky neighbor, they learn the truth about Bobby’s harrowing early life. In 1929, Katya was 16, in love with the boy next door, a doting daughter and younger sister who worked on the family farm. But when Stalin’s men arrived, they insisted the local farmers join the collective and punished anyone who resisted. As the Russians take more and more from the Ukrainians, the impossible starts to unfold—starvation in the land of plenty. And help seems impossible. Insgesamt war das Buch für mich aber eine lesenswerte Geschichte, die gerade in diesen Zeiten aufzeigt, was Krieg bedeutet und wie sehr Menschen in solch grausamen schweren Zeiten leiden. In the 1930s, Stalin's activists marched through the Soviet Union, espousing the greatness of collective farming. It was the first step in creating a man-made famine that, in Ukraine, stole almost 4 million lives. Inspired by the history the world forgot, and the Russian government denies, Erin Litteken reimagines their story. Has your book club been searching for a novel about Ukraine? Given the devastating current events in Ukraine, you might be wishing to read more about the country and its people. If so, The Memory Keeper of Kyivis the perfect choice. The Memory Keeper of Kyiv is a meticulously researched novel brilliantly depicting the horrific events of Stalin’s systematic destruction of a country... Reading this story felt all the more poignant in the current climate knowing that the proud people of Ukraine are once again suffering appalling atrocities as they fight to survive at the hands of others determined to ruin them. A captivating, heartfelt debut which was at times achingly painful to read."

Asda Great Deal

Free UK shipping. 15 day free returns.
Community Updates
*So you can easily identify outgoing links on our site, we've marked them with an "*" symbol. Links on our site are monetised, but this never affects which deals get posted. Find more info in our FAQs and About Us page.
New Comment