“A mother’s sacrifice. A secret to keep forever”
- Book: The Soldier’s Child
- Location: Russia, Ukraine, United States (USA)
- Author: Tetyana Denford
Having read one of author Tetyana Denford’s previous books, which was written with such evocation and poignancy it almost broke me, I was fully prepared for this story to get to me in much the same way. However, I think that if anything, this recounting of generations of a family almost destroyed by WWII and its aftermath, is even more touching and definitely more thought provoking, albeit in a different way to its predecessor. So, here I am, in pieces yet again!
That it is also a historical recounting of the terrible injustices of war, inflicted on Ukraine, a country coveted by so many opposing forces of the time; is to take a mirror to recent and current events in that same country, albeit that some of the aggressors of the past, are now thankfully fighting with and for the Ukrainian people.
This book also forms another true fiction chapter in the lives of some of the author’s own ancestors and those of countless other families she has researched, including those who cannot speak for themselves, or have no one left to speak for them.
Tetyana, has written a lovely ‘Author’s Note’, placed at the end of the book, although I would almost recommend that you read this section first, as it wonderfully contextualises so much of the ensuing storyline.
…
Katya’s story begins when she is a child living in Ukraine with her parents, who are farmers. She has an older brother Adrian, who has left home to live in the city, where he is working for a law firm and has married the rather nasty and opinionated Nadiya, who covets the kudos her husband’s future as a judge will bring. As she turns eighteen, Katya too, wishes to leave the rurality of the farm to forge her own life, although by now, her father is failing fast and has little time left to live. She persuades her mother that a temporary lodging with her brother and sister-in-law would be beneficial for her, and it is whilst she is living with them that she meets young Hungarian soldier Alexander (Sasha). The attraction between them is instant and palpable, so despite all their best attempts at sticking to propriety, the inevitable happens and baby Alexander is born, although Sasha dies in action, unaware that he is to be a father and convinced that Katya had forsaken him.
Because of the social mores of the time, having a child out of wedlock is to heap shame and derision not only on you, but on any family and friends who know you, so an already broken Katya is now completely destroyed by the fait accompli which Adrian and Nadiya present her with. Katya’s parents both die without ever knowing of the arrangement between brother and sister, but when it becomes clear that little Alexander is no more than an unwanted and troublesome pawn in Nadiya’s plans to further her own future, Katya can take no more, so leaves their home to seek a new life and family of her own, leaving her son a locket holding photographs, which she hopes one day will encourage him to try and piece together the story of his past. Katya meets and marries farmer Volodymyr and together they have a son Petro, although she doesn’t tell her husband anything about her past or the secret she keeps, so Alexander is to all intents and purposes, their nephew and Petro’s cousin.
When WWII comes, Western Ukraine is first attacked and invaded by German troops, although they are eventually repelled and forced to retreat by the Ukrainian peoples’ supposed saviour, Russia. Soviet forces however, are not the benevolent conquerors they purport to be and a new and even more violent occupation regime is enforced upon an already broken population. The two branches of the family are by now quite distant and rarely keep in touch, so whilst a knowing but stoically silent Katya takes care of much of the routine farm work, a now adult Petro and his father act together as part of an organised resistance movement. Meanwhile, Adrian and Nadiya have parted company, whilst cousin Alexander is married to Sofia, has a young son of his own, Evegen and manages his own grocery store.
It is now that the story of Katya and her son Alexander completely diverge, with Katya falling foul of Russian troops who, having got wind of the acts of sabotage committed by her husband and son, come to ransack the farm, arresting Katya in the process, who is now destined for what will be many years incarcerated in the Gulag Vorkuta in Siberia.
Meanwhile, unwilling to collaborate with the Russian invaders and having had his livelihood taken from him, Alexander has decided that it is time for himself, Sofia and Ev to make good their escape and begin a new life in Hungary. They must separate to flee however, and by the time Alexander has caught up with them, a terrible fate has befallen Sofia and a traumatised Ev is found sobbing for his mother. Father and son push on into Austria, where after a spell in a refugee camp, they spend a couple of years eking out an existence for themselves, before the idea of a voyage to the brave new world of America is floated for them to consider.
It is to be more than a decade before Katya can make good her escape from the slavery she has been fortunate and strong enough to survive, which is primarily down to her determination to acknowledge publicly the son she has had to deny for so long and to hopefully be reunited with him. Having walked the hundreds of miles from Siberia to home, her husband and son are miraculously still patiently waiting for her at the farm and she immediately sets about righting the wrongs of the past, fearful that her time is short.
In America, a settled Alexander and Ev are rubbing along quite nicely and have little time to give more than a passing thought to the Ukrainian arm of the family, although Alexander has never been truly comfortable with the couple who had adopted him and called themselves his parents, when he always felt more connected with his aunt Katya.
Is it too late for the connection to be made, or are the ravages of war about to call time on bodies which have been broken, even though their spirit remains strong and in need of closure?
…
In such a monumentally important, character rich, epic family saga storyline such as this, where fact and fiction are so seamlessly blended, I really wouldn’t want any thoughts I might share to sound in any way disingenuous to author Tetyana Denford or her family, especially having read her lovely ‘author’s note’ at the end of the book. However, I am hoping that the finished story is such a mix of memories, taken from multiple sources, that overall I am safe taking everything at face value, which is a wonderful dovetailing of historical fiction, romance and social history, much of which, sadly, could be lifted from the pages of the book and transposed into a narrative reflecting today’s struggle between the people of Ukraine and their modern day Russian aggressors. Whilst in this story there were few secrets which were finally taken to the grave, the innocence of a childhood lost, the love of a mother for her child denied and the hope and promise of a family reconciled, were laid bare as a warning for the future, which unfortunately have largely gone unheeded by a new generation.
This wonderfully evocative and tenderly poignant, multi-layered storyline, is powerful, highly textured and rich in atmosphere. Narrated across multiple timelines and from multiple perspectives, whilst well structured and beautifully rendered, in the context that the author strove to include every aspect of the tortured lives her characters endured, I perhaps felt that she was in such a rush to commit all those memories into words that she lost her way a little when presenting the timeline, so that dates in time didn’t always correlate with the ages of the characters, thus causing some confusion when reading, hence my 4 star rating, although that almost pales into insignificance in the scheme of the overall reading experience, so engrossed had I become.
If the events and locations are the threads which hold this story together, then the characters are the very fabric of this family saga. Whilst there is quite a large cast of characters, this is essentially the story of one family, the Lyubomirs, their extended family and their closest friends. Katya has always been a woman of strong will and highly opinionated, a female family trait it would seem. However, with the death of Katya’s mother and Nadiya’s welcome departure, future generations look set to be dominated by the male figures, who all vie for space in Katya’s heart. Because of both their individual prevailing circumstances and those which affect the nation as a whole, all are emotionally complex, raw and passionate, which can often make them a little unreliable and volatile, despite their stoicism. However, whilst they might be difficult to relate to or invest in, as often the family dynamics and synergy didn’t welcome outside intrusion, I found them all to be relatively genuine, believable and authentic. All the main players, who have been well drawn and developed in their roles, were given a loud and clear voice with which to tell their story, together with an inner strength and determination to fulfil their destinies and set the records straight for future generations.
Whilst on this occasion, not always a comfortable journey for me in my position as an ‘armchair traveller’, the story has a large physical footprint and I visited multiple locations, spanning several decades, in all of which the author paid great attention to detail, using the full palette of the words at her disposal to imbue the sights, sounds and smells, which lifted the images off the page and into my reading space, affording me an excellent visual depth and a profoundly perceptive and immersive sense of time and place, that I could almost step into.
What always makes reading such a wonderful experience for me, is that with each and every new book, I am taken on a unique and individual journey of discovery, by some amazing authors, who fire my imagination, stir my emotions and stimulate my senses. This was another of those “one of a kind” stories, which had the power to evoke so many feelings, that I’m sure I won’t have felt the same way about it as the last reader, nor the next, so I can only recommend that you read ‘The Soldier’s Child’ for yourself and see where your journey leads you!
I have memories from this story which I won’t forget in a long time. Thank you, Tetyana!
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