You, With Your Waiting: A Novel of Siblings, Survival and the Holocaust in the Soviet Union

by Leslie Lacin, Mike Hall (Illustrator), Richard Ljoenes (Illustrator)

In 1941, as Nazi forces advance into the Soviet Union, ten-year-old Avsey and his older sister Bronya are forced into a world where nothing is certain—not safety, not truth, not even the meaning of courage.



Avsey, a precocious stamp collector, believes in heroes. He studies the figures on his stamps and imagines himself becoming one—someone who can bring order to chaos. But war does not unfold according to the rules he understands.



Bronya, newly admitted to the Moscow Conservatory, is older and more aware of what is being lost. When their mother falls ill, she must choose between caring for her brother and answering a different call of duty in a country at war.



As they are swept into evacuation, displacement, and the shifting front lines of the North Caucasus, both children must navigate a reality where the Holocaust is not always named, and danger is not always visible.



At the center of the novel lies a largely overlooked the mass murder of Jews in places like Zmiivska Balka in Rostov-on-Don—one of the largest Holocaust massacres on Soviet soil, and one many readers have never encountered.



You, With Your Waiting is a story of innocence under pressure, of siblings bound together in uncertainty, and of the fragile, complicated search for truth in a world at war.

315 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 18, 2025

About the author

Leslie Lacin grew up in California roaming the beaches and canyons and surfing the Pacific Ocean. After she graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, she lived in New York City, Paris and Geneva before attending the University of Oxford. Her love of Russian literature and history compelled her to complete an M.Phil in Russian, Soviet and eastern European studies, spending precious months engaged in research in Moscow and beyond. She drove through Eastern Europe as the Berlin Wall fell, permanently changed by the people and stories she encountered. She visited the concentration camps and became passionate about the Jewish history of both eastern Europe and the former Soviet territories.
In 2015, Leslie returned to Russia and intrigued by a story she'd heard about the Ravine of Snakes in Rostov-on-Don, began to interview Russian Holocaust survivors about their experience under German Occupation and the mass killings in the Caucuses. Her debut novel, You, With Your Waiting, began with those interviews and initiated long years of travel and research. The novel is based on historical events, many of them unknown to western readers.
Leslie lives in Raleigh, North Carolina with her husband and two terriers where they welcome their children and grandchildren, wandering students and friends with open arms.

Reviews

[A.J. Barnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I find myself struggling to put into words how I felt about this book. It was beautifully done, and completely heart wrenching. The relationships between family members— Avsey and Bronya, Asha and Kuzma, Sara and Asha, etc—offered a continued sense of purpose and love even in the darkest of times. The displays of intergenerational protection and willingness to sacrifice for their family were incredibly well done.

Asha and Kuzma’s relationship proved that a mother’s love for her son is unconditional and powerful. Despite having been driven apart for so long, the immediate recognition of each other and the unwillingness to part even at the brink of death was very emotional for me.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent read. Lacin tells a story I've never read. It focuses on Southeastern Europe during the Nazi invasion and a Jewish family's efforts to avoid capture as the Nazi's horrible intentions were coming to light. It is clear that a huge amount of research went into this book. It's rare that I read a book of historical fiction and feel the author's journey to the setting through details that only physical presence and thoughtful observation could provide. The writing is accessible, intelligent and engaging.

[Honor Monaco · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a story of survival set during WWII, yet it echoes powerfully in today’s global landscape. Bronya and Avsey are remarkably resourceful and tenderhearted, and you grow attached to them from the very first page. Bronya’s devotion to her music is both a lifeline and a burden, while Avsey’s collection of small treasures is a heartbreaking window into how children try to make sense of chaos. Their bond is rendered with such honesty and warmth that the emotional stakes feel profound without ever tipping into melodrama.

The author doesn’t shy away from the terrifying reality of war, but those darker moments are balanced with glimmers of hope, resistance, and the quiet resilience of childhood. The story is filled with universal, deeply relatable moments of youth, even though their world is vastly different from our own -- a virtue of Leslie Lacin's impeccable writing and clear understanding of children facing hardship.

A beautifully unforgettable read that lingers well beyond the final page.

[Melissa Porter · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brutal, visceral retelling of Holocaust survivors' experiences, woven into a beautiful story of human resilience, a harrowing quest to survive, and the rebuilding of a family. After all, "we are .... all we have." This was grueling, gripping ... I feel like I was there. The lifetime of research that built this masterpiece is truly remarkable.

[Debbie Trenker · Rating 4 out of 5]

a poignant tribute to the Russians of ww2

This story brought to light a portion of history from World War 2 that I knew very little about, the plight of Russian Jews fleeing the German army.

[Becky BEHRENS · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting and informative. I definitely recommend this book!

[Aletha Pagett · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story of family, love, fear, bravery and overcoming. This e-book, set during the holocaust, was received from Goodreads.

[Florencia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read a lot of stories based on WWII, but none based in the Soviet Union. Hard and sad, but at many moments sweet. Unforgettable characters.
I won this book from a Goodreads giveaway.

[Dagnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite genre is Historical Fiction and I read primarily from the WWII and post-war era, so I've read a lot of WWII literature over the last few years. This book was so incredibly unique from previous reads in that it focuses on the Russian front and a family as they work against the Nazi advance as well as trying to find their way to each other. It was gut wrenching read at times but it was worth every moment. A beautiful book.