Whatever the case, I think it's a good effort to increase awareness of the tragedy that was the Ukrainian famine, and I liked the story of Katya. I don't recall seeing any other novels with this topic, and for that alone, it's a very important book that should be read now.

As the world once again witnesses Russia’s attempt to exterminate the Ukrainian people and their culture, this work of historical fiction provides a view of this tragic period of Ukraine’s history.It’s a heady finale for an author who spent 10 years chipping away at her idea for a novel, squeezing in writing sessions between her part-time job and raising two kids, now teenagers. Heartbreaking tale of the Homodor or Murder by Hunger, a man made famine that killed millions of people in Ukraine during Stalin's forced collective farms program. This was a horrible time in history and it has been covered up and forgotten. It should never be forgotten. When productive farms were taken over by the government and people killed or shipped to Siberia for simply disagreeing with the government or for trying to find food to survive. When people are reduced to eating earthworms and grain from the burrows of rats to survive and they are still dying. When a woman drops dead in a food line to receive a slice of bread. When people work all day on farms that are not their own and not allowed to work their own farms being paid only with a slice of bread for the day's work, the system is wrong, cruel and broken. The thing really impressing me was the resilience and strength the characters show through adversity. The Holocaust is the most widely known and notorious genocide in modern history, yet it is not the most deadly. At the same time Hitler was enacting his Final Solution, Soviet Union leader Josef Stalin plotted a forced famine that killed nearly twice as many people as Hitler's Holocaust. The Memory Keeper of Kyiv follows 16-year-old Katya and her family as they fight to survive Stalin's famine.

Whether you choose something from this list or try your own option, I hope these food ideas will get your creative juices flowing to host your book club for The Memory Keeper of Kyiv! The Memory Keeper of Kyiv – A novel about Ukraine A few tips on cooking Ukranian Borscht:

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A compelling and intimate story of love and survival. Harrowing and haunting . . . yet, at the same time, it is sensitive, beautiful and inspiring. Everybody should read this story, especially now. I cannot recommend it highly enough.” Christy Lefteri, author of The Beekeeper of Aleppo Bobby and Anna disagree on whether their loved ones visit after their death. Do you think Birdie spoke to Alina or did Bobby’s stories cause Birdie to create an imaginary friend? I absolutely loved this heartbreaking novel about a family's resilience in a time of great trauma. In the present-day storyline, Cassie knew that her grandmother had immigrated from Ukraine but didn't exactly know the details that encouraged that migration. So by reading and looking into her grandmother's story, Cassie now knows another layer to her family heritage. The Memory Keeper of Kyiv is a meticulously researched novel . . . depicting a country whose people managed to dig deep enough to find the strength, determination and heart to survive.” Deborah Carr, author of An Island at War

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. Katya clung to her humanity by trying to save children after she lost her own child. Do you think she would have survived without Halya to care for?

I never imagined the release of my novel on a past assault of the Ukrainian people would coincide with such a parallel tragedy. 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 A stunning portrait of Ukraine and its people, of strength, of endurance, of the fight for survival during the forced famine, the Holodomor, but also a tender story of Katya, a grandmother whose hidden history holds the power to guide her granddaughter through the darkness of loss and grief, toward life and a limitless future. A remarkable read not to be missed." Lisa Wingate, author of *Before We Were Yours

As a novel, The Memory Keeper of Kyiv shares the same weakness as other books with the same alternating timelines format: The past was so horrible that the modern-day protagonist’s dilemma pales in comparison. The chapters that tell Katya’s story are so compelling that readers may end up skipping Cassie’s sections all together. Still, the theme of hope after tragedy ties the two sections together, making them both worth reading. Seventy years later, a young widow discovers her grandmother’s journal, one that will reveal the long-buried secrets of her family’s haunted past. In solidarity with the people of Ukraine, the publishers of this book, Boldwood Books, will donate a share of their proceeds to the DEC's Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal. I appreciate them for this gesture. With the help of a kind neighbor who is fluent in Ukrainian, Cassie is able to translate her grandmother’s journal. Through this journal, Cassie learns of the unspeakable hardships her grandmother suffered during the Holodomor (great famine) inflicted on the Ukrainian people at the direction of Stalin in the 1930’s.

“A powerfully moving debut . . . Ukraine’s tragic history painfully echoes its current crisis, and on every page the Ukrainian spirit shines out, unbowed, unbent and unbroken.” Kate Quinn, author of The Diamond Eye

Note: If you are in a depressed state of mind, please stay away from the book until you are in a stronger mental headspace. There are many triggering events in the 1930s timeline. While most of the extreme triggers aren’t detailed out directly, what’s happening behind the screen is enough to induce nightmares. Zusammen ergibt es ein großes Ganzes, das viele bewegende Momente mit sich bringt. Wobei ich ganz klar sagen muss, dass mich der Erzählstrang der Vergangenheit am meisten bewegt und berührt hat. Durch die häufig wechselnde Zeit und Perspektive fiel es mir gerade im Bezug auf Cassie doch schwer einen Bezug aufzubauen und sie blieb mir ehrlich gesagt doch sehr fern. 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.