This is both a memoir and a history of a country which has suffered much at the hands of various invaders/occupiers.

Victoria is drawn to the eponymous Rooster House , but what is it that draws her back ? Why does she take on a quest to find out more about how her own family's history is inextricably linked to this particular house?
There is a mysterious missing uncle, Nikodem, whom nobody wants to talk about and who has been erased from the family history and stories. Why is this?

With themes of memory, despair, hope and resilience this is a timely and important book. It asks fundamental questions about place and its relationship with identity.

An engrossing if somewhat troubling read with a glimmer of hope at its core.

A very powerful and gripping story that is difficult to read in some parts but worth sticking with. The E-Book could be improved and more user-friendly, such as links to the chapters, no significant gaps between words and a cover for the book would be better. It is very document-like instead of a book. A star has been deducted because of this.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

A personal portrait of Ukraine 🇺🇦
Assumed that conflict between Russia & Ukraine would never affect or splinter family’s intertwined roots.
For the first time in her life she was expected to take sides, in the end she had no choice because Ukraine returned to her.
“Seeing familiar landmarks sink into violence, we grieve for ourselves as we once were and we question what we have become”
She lovingly describes members of her family and community.
Especially Valentina, her Great Grandmother 👵 whose motto was BE ALL YOU CAN BE
Valentina was born in 1934 and lived through the Stalin’s Great Famine, where more than 3 million died
“That’s why she wants to plant potatoes - when you owe your existence to famine you become branded with fear”
Valentina demonstrated her resilience by continuing to work in the hard in the garden and resolutely refusing to ever leave her home.
Rooster House of the title is the security service of the Ukraine, the organisation that inherited the KGB archive after the fall of the USSR.
Valentina had an intense fear of the Rooster House, calling it the Rooster Trap, as trapped them and frightened them into submission

An interesting, heart wrenching read - “now we just need to wait and see what the future will bring, but we are resilient”
Thanks @boisdejasmin @virago & @netgalley for the eARC

The Rooster House is about a woman's search for answers about her ancestor's lives in her home country of Ukraine. During her journey to find answers about them, she also finds answers about herself. In this memoir you will learn not only about the author's family history, but also the history of beautiful Ukraine.

Never have I read a memoir so poignant and breathtaking in its descriptions, that I found myself feeling fully immersed in the author's search myself. At moments I held my breath while waiting to find out the answers to her questions, and hoping that she would come to learn what she was searching for. Her joys became my joys, and her sorrows became my sorrows.

This was a beautiful story about learning about the past and facing truths, not only about the past but also within yourself, and I couldn't be more happy to have read it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group UK for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I will buy this book to finish later, as I did not manage to finish this in time - but I'm so interested in Ukraine so I will be buying this book - this was a fantastic and interesting family story told well!

The Rooster House is a captivating family memoir. Belim revists her birth-nation Ukraine after years abroad and explores how its Soviet past has touched her family. It's both an investigative journey and family epic, with Belim ultimately working towards a greater understanding of herself, her family and the secrets that have shaped them.

Belim describes everyday Ukrainian life and its conflicted culture with honesty and sensitivity, and though the events in this book all take place before 2022, in many ways it helps to contextualise the current conflict.

A perceptive family memoir told with care and compassion, The Rooster House is a thought-provoking read.