The Death of a Soldier Told by His Sister

“It tells a personal story of the loss of a brother at the front line of the Russian-Ukrainian war. The author’s brother was killed in 2017. He volunteered to serve in the army to defend his country. It was a point at which the rest of the world had more or less forgotten about the war unfolding in Ukraine. The author, Olesya Khromeychuk, tells the story of her loss in this lucid, compassionate manner. I imagine—I cannot say this for sure, because grief is a strange and personal thing—that it can allow many people to come to terms with the losses they are experiencing today.It is important to recognize the sheer longevity of the Russian-Ukrainian war. The book was republished in 2022, and a few chapters were added to reflect upon the full-scale invasion. Khromeychuk’s book brings the entire, almost decade-long history of the war into the present moment. A work of creative nonfiction, it includes imaginative, fairytale-like stories and dream-like moments, evoking the writer’s emotions, memories, and feelings about her brother.” Read more...

The Best Ukrainian Literature

Sasha Dovzhyk, Literary Scholar