Had I not read Erin Litteken’s bio prior to reading her debut novel, I have no doubt it would have still been painfully and poignantly obvious that this story has personal roots. The depth found here is just something that can’t be taught; it has a connection that you can curate but not create, and has a heart that spins a tragic story into hope. Simply put, The Memory Keeper of Kyiv is powerful, inspiring, heart wrenching, and as near perfection as they come.

Alternating between 1930’s Ukraine and early 2000s United States, The Memory Keeper of Kyiv brings together four generations of a family who never realized how little they knew about themselves, and each other.

In 2004, 31 year old Cassie is living in Wisconsin and failing to put her life back together after the tragic death of her husband the previous year. Her five year old daughter Birdie hasn’t spoken a word in 15 months, lives in too small pajamas, and writer Cassie’s laptop sits buried under a pile of who knows what. At the urging of her mother Anna, she returns home to Illinois to help her aging grandmother Bobby, whose life before Anna the family knows surprisingly little about.

In 1929, 16 year old Katya is living a happy life in her small Ukrainian village; her family’s farm is thriving, and she is going to marry her beloved boy next door. Over the next five years, Stalin’s collectivism policies transform from an annoyance into an epic and tragic famine, and Kayta’s world shatters piece by piece. The lose and hardships she endures will shape the rest of her life, and for seventy years she stays silent. Through a journal she has kept since her youth and a special connection with great-granddaughter Birdie, she finally breaks her silence, allowing her to finally find true peace and helping her granddaughter come to terms with her own grief.

Drawing on personal family stories, oral histories and clearly deep research, Erin Litteken transports you to a dark period in history that is tragically too little known. Daily life in Katya’s Old World in sprinkled with enough detail to let you see what she sees, without sinking into the mundane; I want to sit in Katya’s kitchen while her mother cooks varenyky, peer from the barnloft as Tato tends to the animals, and enjoy the simplicity of walking to the next farm to steal a kiss from Pavlo. On the other side, you can feel in your bones when she lies starving and shivering on the bed she once shared with her beloved sister, and may cry ugly elephant tears each time another loss or impossible decision rears its ugly head.

Don’t start reading after dinner, you plan on being sleep deprived the next day - this captivating novel will keep you awake, steal your heart, crush your spirit, and hopefully remind you that we must learn from the past or be doomed to repeat it.

The Memory Keeper of Kyiv is a wonderful and heartbreaking book - made all the more so because of current events in Ukraine. I would absolutely recommend this book for anyone looking to understand the history of ethnic cleansing of Ukrainians at the hands of Russians. Although this book is historical fiction, it explains in an easy-to-understand manner part of what makes the Ukrainians so resilient and so steadfast in their protection of their homeland. Stalin may have implemented Holodomor to destroy the Ukrainian people - and her certainly did destroy so very many lives - but it ultimately made the survivors and their descendants so very strong.

I'm generally not a fan of multiple timelines in historical fiction, but I do think that in this case it does help to paint a more complete picture and helps the reader to understand a geographic region and national mentality that until early 2022, all too many people were not familiar with. I think it helps to add to the story.

"To the Ukranian people. Your strength and resilience are an inspiration, then and now." captures its power." The dedication of this book reflects how I felt while and after reading it. Before reading this book I had no idea about the horrors of the Holodomor (intentional starvation) of the Ukranian people as part of Stalin's invasion in the 1930s. Reading about this past atrocity while Russia is again invading Ukraine was surreal. This book was both haunting and hopeful. I love the way the story of a grandmother's past unfolds through her granddaughter's reading of her journal. I definitely recommend reading this book.

This story is breathtaking and devastating at the same time. Erin Litteken undoubtedly researched this book and did a beautiful job telling the story of what Kyiv was like during WWII.

This is a must read for WWII fictional history like I am. This book is definitely worth the read and covers such a myriad of emotions. Be prepared.

Thank you to #netgalley and #boldwoodbooks for allowing me to read the eARC of this book. All opinions expressed above are my own.

This is one of those historical fiction books where the actual events are so deserving of being documented. A big thank you to the author for doing so. The book is set in Ukraine starting in 1929 and through the first half of the 1930s during the Holodomor - the man-made famine orchestrated by the Soviet Union’s Stalin regime with its drive for collectivization and dekulakization. Millions of Ukrainians starved to death, as well as millions of others across the Soviet Union. This is Katya’s story and it had a strong sense of place and time. Alongside this timeline runs another - the year 2004 with the epilogue in 2007. Cassie, a recent widow is floundering in life when she gets the opportunity to work on her grandmother’s journal. I liked the premise of the story, particularly as it is grounded in facts and the author’s inspiration was her great-grandmother. I don’t think the author intended this, but all I could think about was the sharp contrast between how Katya and Cassie handled their respective lives. I’ll leave it up to readers to discover which one I was most impressed with. What didn’t work well for me was the dual timeline treatment, which felt a bit forced in the first half of the book; I really could have done without the second timeline. All in all, this was an okay book to read, highlighting a tremendously important story that needed to be told, especially this year. Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This title intrigued me because of recent events in Ukraine, but I had no knowledge of the Great Famine, or Holodomor, and I wanted to know more about the country's history.

I found the basic storyline interesting, and appreciated the dual timeline structure to break up the heavier moments in the famine. The dialogue - and some of the prose - was a bit clunky and overexplained, telling instead of showing. While reading at one point I searched if this was a young adult book, and while it wasn't, I think maybe the author's writing style would be better suited for that type of writing.

I found it interesting that some of the author's details were from her own family's history, and after reading, I immediately googled Holodomor to learn more.

"These seeds may not bloom this year, but it's worth a try, don't you think? With flowers and with life"

1930's Ukraine - Kayta and Alina are teenage sisters living through a nightmare. Homodor - or Murder for Hunger: a famine that killed millions of people during Stalin's reign. Farms were taken over by the government and innocent lives were taken for disagreeing with their tactics.

2004 Wisconsin - Cassie is mourning the loss of her husband, while trying to raise her young daughter who is traumatized by the events that took her father from her. Cassie moves back in with her mom and grandmother - who is suffering from Alzhiemer's.

Bobby, Cassie's grandmother has canned goods hidden throughout her home and she also uncovers journals written in Ukrainian that she needs help deciphering.

While Cassie unearths her grandmother's past - she learns so much about what her ancestors went through, but she is also able to forge a new future for herself despite her tragic loss.

This book was not an easy read, by any means. I personally connected to the story: my dad is from Tashkent, Uzbekistan but when he was growing up his country was still under USSR rule. Also, my grandmother had Alzheimer's and I was her primary caretaker right out of high school. I could wholeheartedly relate to the struggles of caring for someone who is living in the past, but thinks it is the present day. We also have family members who are still in Ukraine during this heart wrenching time and the fact that a war is going on overseas puts everything in perspective and forces you to not take a single thing for granted.

I had no idea this occurred in Ukraine in the 1930's - and while this novel is a work of fiction the events that transpired are real and utterly devastating.

This is a story that will stick with me forever. Proceeds of this novel will go to the Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.

This is a such a sad and emotional read full of history. A true story of love after loss. I loved learning about Bobby’s life - the horrors of the Holodomor were so vividly described and the strength she must have needed to survive is unimaginable. This story is a reminder that despite the atrocities mankind can inflict on eachother, love and hope will flourish. The dual timeline with Cassie and Birdie flows beautifully as the secrets of the past are finally revealed to the family.
This is an important story to share with the world and parts of the proceeds from books sold will be shared with DEC Ukraine.

This Historical Fiction about two families facing starvation during the Holodomor (genocide) tells a powerful and important story. By time hopping between 2004 and the early 1930s, we uncover the story of Katya, a strong-willed survivor who watched her family, her neighbours and other members of her community perish solely because the greedy Russian government didn't want them to exist. At a time when war is raging between these two groups yet again, we are reminded that we must learn from our past or we are doomed to repeat it. Honestly, that should be a selling point for this book all on it's own, but I'm not done raving about it yet!

The Holodomor section of the story starts by showing the changing political environment as communism begins to spread in the USSR, showing how quickly the situation went from an idea to a very clear message that you need to get with the program or else. The author did a wonderful job showing that there were many ways that people tried to resist, especially in the early days, but the consequences were tragic for anyone who got caught (or was even just falsely accused). As the danger increased, you can see that resistance was made up of little things, like burying preserved food in random holes around the farm or hiding your goat in a (deceased) neighbour's abandoned barn so that you can still get milk. The author clearly had a very strong understanding of the living conditions during this genocide and despite character after character dying, was able to show the never failing strength of the main character.

The present day section is also wonderful, in fact, it is arguably almost as interesting and important as the portion on the Holodomor. In 2004, a 31 year old widow named Cassie moves in with her grandmother who is suffering from dementia and doing some peculiar things. Knowing she doesn't have that much time left with her beloved grandmother, Cassie is desperate to learn more about her family's past, despite the fact that her grandmother refuses to talk about her life before she moved to the US. Beyond that though, we get to see Cassie's own challenges, which have parallels to what her grandmother experienced but are unique and complex. Her 4-5 year old daughter has developed selective mutism since the death of her father in a car accident, Cassie has abandoned her career as a writer and not even plugged in her laptop since her husband passed, and as she meets and begins to connect with a new love interest, she must determine whether or not she is ready to let someone new into her life. I would have gladly kept reading Cassie's story if it were it's own book!

I really can't emphasize how much I loved this book. It really was everything I could want in a Historical Fiction and it was about a topic that is so important given current events and is not very well understood. I would highly recommend this book to all Historical Fiction lovers, I think you will love it! Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read and review this fabulous book!

This book is absolutely incredible. If you enjoy reading dual time spans and learning from what you read may I suggest this to you?
The book is fictional though the subject matter is about past events taking place in Ukraine.
The story follows an Ukrainian family and their struggle for survival as the country is forced to go through Holodomor. I had never heard of this or learned about this in school . Holodomor is a forced starvation from 1932 to 1933 killing up to 5 million people. It was carried out by the Soviet Regime.
The characters in the present day story are linked to the characters in the past by a discovered journal telling of the hardships suffered in the past.
The thing really impressing me was the resilience and strength the characters show through adversity.
This is a very interesting book that shows strong courage and unwavering hope. We are assured there is light after the darkness.
Highly recommended!

Pub Date 16 May 2022
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

This is a story that is difficult to read, haunting. The writing and storytelling make you feel like you're there, but that's the problem. It starts in 1929 in Ukraine when things were still mostly normal for Katya and her family, but it changed quickly. Per the author between 1932 and 1933, one in every eight Ukrainians died in this manmade famine. Stalin had taken over, requiring that the people "support the state" by turning over everything they had, forcing collectivization on them. People who didn't comply were killed or deported, taxed beyond being able to pay. This story of survival was recorded and revealed in 2004, this story flipping back and forth between times to explain what happened. Seventy years later, a young widow discovered her grandmother’s journal that will reveal the long-buried secrets of her family’s haunted past. The high cost of survival from treatment like this, treatment over years. Riveting, heart wrenching, hard to put down. This country is at war again with Russia, so it's even more important to be reminded of what happened there before. Hard to believe that it could happen again now in this day and age.
I received this book free from the publisher and NetGalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

@BoldwoodBooks @BookandTonic #BoldwoodBooks #TheMemoryKeeperofKyiv #NetGalley #BooksYouCanFeelGoodAbout @erinlitteken #fivestarbooks

In light of the current devastating war on Ukraine, this book couldn't be more timely. I, like perhaps many others, did not know an awful lot about Ukraine's history. But after reading this wonderful but deeply sad story, I am filled with more compassion and horror at the atrocities inflicted on this country by invading countries, in the main Russia.

Documenting in the main the forced famine program known as Holodomor, we learn about the absolute inhumanity of the Soviets who stole food only to let it rot. Millions starved to death, thousands were arrested and deported and thousands more were shot brutally.

The book is dual timeline, moving between 2004 and 1932-1937. Cassie is grieving after her husband was killed in a car accident. Her daughter Birdie was injured and is now mute after the trauma. They move in with Bobby, Cassie's grandmother and for the first time, Cassie and her Mom Anna learn about Bobby's history when she gives them her journal.

Bobby is a tremendous character, containing a strength and heart that ensured her survival when so many others fell.

An absolutely magnificent book, so eloquently written with a cast of wonderful characters forming a family filled with love and fortitude.

Just a few months ago, who would have thought war would be raging on the European continent? To see the devastation and destruction of Ukraine at the hands of the Russians over the last few weeks turns even the hardest hearts and minds to empathy to the Ukrainians. The timeliness of Litteken's The Memory Keeper of Kyiv makes this novel even more relevant to the historical posturing of Putin. I finished this book on the day of the Bucha massacre and felt an incredible sadness and pain for the people of Ukraine. Their recent history (meaning 1917-2022) creates a narrative hard to bear by most standards. From the Stalinist purges to the Holodomor and the attempted liquidation by Nazi Germany, the Ukrainians have dealt with repeated horrors of genocide and ethnic cleansing.

The Memory Keeper of Kyiv follows the tale of a family as the brutal onslaught of Stalin's collectivization policies and the Holodomor shreds the fabric of their family and their people. The young teen Katya lives through the horror and records the story in her journal For Americans who are unfamiliar with the Russian crackdown on Ukraine in the 1920s-1930s, they might find some of the tale too lurid to believe. Litteken does a solid job of capturing the relentless brutality of state policy and recurrent evil meted out by neighbors and enemies alike. Katya and her family endure the hunger, starvation, and cruelty as one by one they succumb to the destruction of their family and society. Their story, secretly scribed by a young Katya, is recounted decades later as her granddaughter translates and transcribes her grandmother's tale before she dies.

Normally I disdain the oft used plot prop of a modern woman finding a long lost diary of a relative to recount the past. When reading books with this plot structure, I am usually screaming inside my head--just tell me the story! I don't need a contrived modernist twist to the narrative. But in The Memory Keeper of Kyiv, the dual tale works and works wonderfully. Cassie, Katya's granddaughter is a lost soul. She can't seem to find her footing after the tragic death of her husband. Her mother insists Cassie and her young daughter go take care of her grandmother as her health is failing and she needs help. The interwoven relationship of the four generations of women show the power of intergenerational love with the keeping of rituals and traditions of Katya's homeland.

Litteken, the granddaughter of a WWII Ukrainian survivor, does a wonderful job of capturing her heritage in so many small ways in the novel. We are all familiar with the symbolism of the sunflower for Ukrainians but Litteken enriches her story with so many other nuances that are key to Ukrainian culture. Her attention to these details creates a much richer context to unfold her saga of heartbreak and tragedy in Ukraine. The relationship between the elderly Katya and her great granddaughter paints a touching portrait of a grandmother's love and the importance of letting our elders help shape our young. The sharing of heritage, rituals, and traditions between the elderly Katya and the young Birdie show the timelessness of love and keeping your culture alive.

But the crux of Litteken's story truly revolves around Katya as a young woman and her survival under the worst of times. Few in the US know of the crippling genocide and ruthlessness the Russians imposed on its own people in Ukraine. The Memory Keeper of Kyiv helps bring the horrific history to light. It helps Americans understand why Slava Ukrayini is so important today. Litteken started the book during the Russian invasion of the Crimea in 2014. Now with the full onslaught of the Russian military punching through Ukraine, her story is so relevant and necessary. It helps establish the historical context of today's war and why Ukrainians are fighting so hard to survive under the crush of Putin's wrath. The Memory Keeper of Kyiv lingered with me long after I finished the book. I waited a couple of weeks before writing this review to give the novel time to settle. The images Litteken paints are very real and historically accurate. The Russians long denied the Holodomor and its genocidal policies but the Ukrainians never forgot even decades later. Their story must be told in order to survive today.

Due to the current state of the world, I've been looking to absorb as much Ukrainian history as possible. When I saw this book on NetGalley, I was intrigued as I didn't know much about the 20th century famine that crippled Ukraine. Another very famous title about the famine has been on my TBR for a while now, but I haven't made it around to reading it (it's rather thick!).

The Memory Keeper of Kyiv was the best of both worlds for me - a historical lesson in the horrors of Stalin's Soviet Union AND a gripping fiction story all in one novel. I really enjoyed the dual timeline approach that Erin Litteken used to tell the current and past stories, interweaving them with just the right level of emotion.

This book left an imprint on my heart, and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who gravitates towards historical fiction and is interested in learning more about the history of the Ukrainian people.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Memory Keeper of Kyiv is a very timely and poignant story that truly tugs at your heartstrings. The fact that I read this whilst there is another war in the Ukraine really brought everything into perspective for me. The awful atrocities that people are having to endure made this a tough yet thought provoking read.

This is dual time line story and it works superbly well. We get to experience the life of those in the Ukraine in the 1930’s. The Holodomor is something that I have never heard of and boy what a brutal way to treat the communities. The story of Katya as a young girl during this dreadful period is a strong story. Through the atrocities there is also a beautiful story of family and love. Protecting each other no matter what the outcome might be. We also get very close to the present life of Cassie who, as a widow now wants to try and uncover the life of her grandmother after finding her journal. She can not read it but she is determined to uncover the past.

This is absolutely a strong and impressive debut novel. My heart broke many times with tears a plenty. The writing has a strength that pulls you in to the lives of Katya and Cassie. The style is compelling and tells a story in history that many people do not know about. I would urge anyone to read this troubling yet outstanding book. A beautifully sad and life affirming read.

What an incredibly moving debut novel. Thoroughly researched, the horrors of the Holodomor are heartbreakingly retold through the journal entries of Cassie's Ukrainian Grandmother. I felt the same way as Anna, Cassie's mother, when she said that she needed the balance of joy if she was going to hear about all this heartache. And Erin Litteken must have realised that it would be the same for her readers when she wisely decided to weave Cassie's modern story of loss, love and healing with that of her Grandmother Bobby's accounts of unbearable loss, pain, hardship and how love, for her too, ultimately won through and gave her the courage to fight and survive.

I was left feeling ashamed that I didn't know anything about Stalin's forced famine in Ukraine and appalled that Western journalists and allied countries denied or played down the millions that starved to death as a direct result of Stalin's collectivisation.

I am so pleased that Erin had the courage to share this harrowing period of history in such a beautifully told way but sad that history is repeating itself.

This is a timely and beautifully written and researched historical fiction novel. It I magines the experiences of a family in Ukraine in the 1930’s when Stalin invaded and made all of the farmers transition to collective farming which resulted in an immense famine that killed nearly 4 million people in Ukraine. It is incredibly painful to read, but so necessary, particularly as we see what the brave and determined Ukrainian people are currently experiencing.

The characters are heartfelt and realistic and the experience the character Katya endured during the Holodomor (the man-made famine) is unimaginably brutal and absolutely heartbreaking. There’s also the perspective of Katya’s granddaughter to whom Katya tells her story, so it won’t be forgotten. This is a story that will stay with me for a long time.

This is a heart-breaking story but one that is extremely important given the current and historical weight of its narrative. I had never heard of the Holodomor until Russia invaded Ukraine. I heard people on the TV mentioning the previous suffering of the Ukrainian people and how they hoped history would not repeat itself. The Holodomor was the forced famine of millions of Ukrainian people in the 1930s – called so because it was completely manmade. Stalin rallied activists to force a large swathe of the Ukrainian people into collective farms meaning families could no longer live off of their own land but had to work the land and give their food over to the soviets. The horrifying part was that a lot of the food produced was left to rot at train stations before it could be transported to Russia whilst the families who harvested it starved to death mere metres away. You must wonder why this catastrophic event that killed 1 in 8 Ukrainians was never publicised or spoken about? Stalin’s men were needed to defeat the Nazis during WW11 so the majority of world leaders turned a blind eye and even went as far as to deny that a famine was occurring. Shocking.

Erin tells the story of Katya, whose narrative is pieced together from her own families’ stories of their experience of the Holodomor and her own research into the event. The story has a really interesting dual narrative, Katya’s story in 1930s Ukraine runs alongside her granddaughter Cassie’s narrative in 2004 America. Cassie having recently lost her husband and made a widow is grieving when she goes to live with her Ukrainian grandmother, who’s health is failing her. Cassie’s little girl Bobby hasn’t spoken in over a year since her father’s car accident and Cassie needs a miracle to transform their lives and bring some hope. Katya begins to act strangely and the family worry that she has early Alzheimer’s, she buries food in the garden in the dead of night, secretes food packages around the house and offers money to phone salesmen so they don’t ‘come to take her away’. However, when Cassie finds her grandmother’s journal and a handsome neighbour who can translate the Ukrainian, she begins to understand her grandmother’s odd behaviour and uncovers her harrowing past.

Katya’s story is heavy with loss and not for the fainthearted. It is nonetheless a beautiful tale of love and hope even in the midst of complete despair. A common motif that runs throughout the novel is that of sunflowers, the national flower of Ukraine. Katya and her sister Alina loved lying in their father’s sunflower field as children. The two girls had bright futures ahead of them with men who loved them and families who doted upon them. When rumours of Stalin’s activists arriving in neighbouring towns began to spread their lives were irrecoverably changed forever. I won’t reveal anymore of the story for I would not want to spoil it and I believe it’s important to follow Katya’s family through the Holodomor with the events unspoilt, for their raw emotions and circumstances need to be felt for us to ensure that this is never allowed to happen again. For a debut novel, this is stunning and I for one cannot wait to read Erin’s next novel which will continue to be inspired by her families’ movement after the Holodomor and across World War II.

This review was part of the Rachel Random Resources Blog Tour.

This debut novel is a historical fiction book based in Ukraine in the 1930s. There are two timelines in the book, one in the 1930s, and one present day. For me, the only fair way to talk about this book is to look at the two timelines separately.
The foundation of the book is the 1930s timeline. Katya and her family struggle through the Holodomor (forced famine set about by Stalin when he invaded Ukraine). It is so well done. It was heart wrenching to read what people had to endure (and what many people could not endure). I loved learning about the culture, customs, food, language, and traditions. I learned so much! And, the story is good! I was rooting for the characters the whole time and wanted them to survive and I cried when they cried and laughed when they laughed. This timeline makes the book worth reading.
The present day timeline was a little harder for me to enjoy. Katya's granddaughter and great granddaughter come to live with her and Katya's journal is discovered and this is how the characters learn about her past in Ukraine. The characters and the writing in this timeline aren't as well done though. A lot of the dialogue is specifically to convey info to the reader and it's sometimes clunky and doesn't sound like natural conversation. Anna, Katya's daughter isn't well developed. She's used a plot device to move the story along. If she enters the scene, something is about to happen. This timeline just felt unnecessary to the overall story until the end.
Overall, I would read this book again and will recommend it!
Thank you Netgalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine.

I am emotionally wrecked after reading Erin Littleken’s debut novel, The Memory Keeper of Kyiv. Erin has crafted the story of a family who suffered more than is humanly possible to suffer during the Holodomor in Ukraine during the early 1930s. Stalin invaded Ukraine forcing the population to render the crops to Russia while starving the Ukrainian people. Littleken tells the story through the eyes of Katya in the early 1930s through her journal. The second time period is her granddaughter, Cassie, who has been given the task by Bobby to read her journal so she can write Bobby’s story. Cassie has also suffered difficult times with the sudden loss of her husband in a car accident and her daughter’s stay in the hospital and not speaking since the accident. I was captivated by both time periods in the story. Cassie is learning lessons in survival in the worst circumstances one can face in life and the ability to recover and live again.

This is a story that I will not forget! I think the book would make an excellent book club choice. Lots to discuss. I appreciate Littleken’s letter to the reader at the beginning of the book and the author notes at the end. I look forward to her next book. My thanks to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for an ARC of this book. The opinions in this review are my own.