At a young age, she was enthralled by stories of her family’s harrowing experiences in Ukraine before, during and after World War II. One everyone should read I think.Ī share of proceeds will be donated to DEC’s Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.Įrin Litteken is a debut novelist with a degree in history and a passion for research. It is a story of bravery, strength, love and loss. I almost felt honoured to be reading The Memory Keeper of Kyiv. I personally felt that Ukraine has been through so much and then the invasion of this year just makes me sad and angry. I always enjoy being educated and entertained at the same time! Although entertained may not be the correct word here. I loved finding out about the Ukrainian culture and traditions. The more she reads, the more she gains understanding of just how much strength her grandmother had, to survive through everything she experienced. The story in the 2000s is Cassie’s translation of Katya’s diary from the 1930s. I felt like my heart would be torn apart, with the vivid pictures in my mind of the starvation, death and loss from the famine. This story felt even more important, because of the current horrors that are happening now in Ukraine. And then we meet Cassie, in 2004 ,who’s from Wisconsin, America.Īs always when I read a dual timeline I always find the historical part of the story so captivating. Set over dual time lines, the first from Katya, in 1930s Ukraine, from where Stalin created a state engineered famine that killed an estimated 3.9 million people. It shows how it affected the people of the time. I am so interested in historical fiction because I get to see these historical times from a more personal angle. I didn’t know the whole proper story, and then I read The Memory Keeper of Kyiv. I had heard of the Holodomor from the 1930s, but only due to Russia invading Ukraine. May we never forget, lest history repeat itself.Īs soon as I saw my invite to this Boldwood book tour I knew I had to join. This is a story of the resilience of the human spirit, the love that sees us through our darkest hours and the true horror of what happened during the Holodomor. 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. But, even in the darkest times, love beckons. Resistance has a price, and as desperate hunger grips the countryside, survival seems more a dream than a possibility. But soon neighbors disappear, those who speak out are never seen again and every new day is uncertain. When Stalin’s activists arrive in her village, it’s just a few, a little pressure to join the collective. In 1929, Katya is 16 years old, surrounded by family and in love with the boy next door. Inspired by the history the world forgot, and the Russian government denies, Erin Litteken reimagines their story. It was the first step in creating a man-made famine that, in Ukraine, stole almost 4 million lives. In the 1930s, Stalin’s activists marched through the Soviet Union, espousing the greatness of collective farming. Thanks go to Rachel’s Random Resources and Boldwood Books for my copy of the book to take part today Today I am thrilled to be part of the blog tour for The Memory Keeper of Kyiv by Erin Litteken.
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