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I Will Die in a Foreign Land by Kalani Pickhart - 4* - My Review

Historical fiction focused on the Euromaidan protests of 2013-2014 in Ukraine. It is set in Kyiv in the aftermath of then-President Yanukovych’s decision not to join the European Union and strengthening ties to Russia. The narrative follows four characters as they join the protest. The uprising was inflamed by the involvement of the police, which resulted in the deaths of 100+ protesters. This book illuminates the historical importance of Ukraine and the reasons it has been a political target for generations.

The four main characters include two women and two men. Katya is a Ukrainian-American doctor who serves as the outside witness. Her son has died, and her marriage is crumbling, so she travels to Ukraine to employ her medical skills. Slava had previously been a victim of sex trafficking. Her partner (a journalist) has recently disappeared. Alexandr is a former KGB agent wounded while playing piano (as a cultural protest) during the uprising. Misha is an engineer previously involved in Chernobyl. His wife has died from radiation sickness. His mother has returned to her home in spite of the risks. These four end up in the same place, a field hospital in a monastery near the site of the most intense fighting.

The structure of this novel mimics the chaos of the protests. It is told in pieces and parts in a non-linear manner. It is a very ambitious undertaking, and I think could have been pared down to exclude some of the details in the characters’ backstories. This level of detail adds to the depth of the characterizations, but it introduces many complexities in a story that is already multi-faceted. It includes news articles, transcripts of cassette recordings of the former KGB agent, and a chorus of Ukrainian storytellers. While there is definitely a lot going on in this story, I ultimately appreciated it. I would love to get the perspectives of those who live closer to the situation and were/are directly impacted.