A timely deepdive into the lives of Ukrainians in the leadup to the war

? UNDER THE LAMPLIGHT-

Delve into a timely read that follows lives changed by the Ukrainian Revolution of Dignity: American writer Kalani Pickhart (who, interestingly enough, has no ties to Ukraine) brings us his debut novel, I Will Die in a Foreign Land. The story follows four individuals during the volatile period of Euromaidan demonstrations that began in 2013 to protest the Ukrainian government’s decision to forge closer ties with Russia instead of signing an economic and political agreement with the EU. Published in 2021 before the onset of the war, the novel dives into Ukraine’s turbulent history and folklore through the stories of the four characters that have each been impacted by the turmoil, including Misha, an engineer from a village near Chernobyl, whose wife died from radiation sickness.