One Ukrainian Summer
A memoir about falling in love and coming of age in the former USSR
by Viv Groskop
This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app
1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date 23 May 2024 | Archive Date 31 May 2024
Black & White Publishing | Ithaka Press
Talking about this book? Use #OneUkrainianSummer #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!
Description
'A memoir that captivates and delights. Fabulous' - Nina Stibbe
Autumn 1993. The former USSR. Viv is about to turn 21 and is on a study year abroad, supposedly immersed in the language, history and politics of a world that has just ceased to exist: the Soviet Union.
Instead, she finds herself immersed in Bogdan Bogdanovich - the lead guitarist of a Ukrainian punk rock band. As the temperature drops, he promises that if she can get through the freezing Russian winter, he will give her "one Ukrainian summer." But is he serious about her? Or is she just another groupie?
At parties, gigs and dive bars, Viv and her new friends argue over whose turn it is to buy cigarettes, the best places to find Levi's jeans and whether beer counts as a soft drink. No-one debates the merits of speaking Ukrainian over Russian, the precise location of the border or the undeniable brightness of the future. Of course good times are here to stay. Because the Soviet Union is finished. Isn't it?
A poignant and often comical account of coming-of-age in the time after the Cold War and before Putin, One Ukrainian Summer is a love letter to a unique moment in history.
ALL PROCEEDS FROM THIS BOOK WILL BE DONATED TO PEN INTERNATIONAL
Advance Praise
'Levi's, black bread, dumplings and the glorious naivety of youth. A travel memoir that captivates and delights. Fabulous' -- Nina Stibbe
'Tender, delicate, romantic and utterly redolent of a singular time and place' -- Charlotte Higgins ― author of Under Another Sky
'Funny, painfully honest and filled with intriguing nuggets, I loved this tender and unique book' -- Caroline Eden ― author of Black Sea
'Gorgeous, tender, funny, sharp' -- Samantha Ellis ― author of How to Be a Heroine
'One Ukrainian Summer evokes the excitement and confusion, the enchantment and disenchantment of a youthful encounter with another culture, another world. It is a beautifully told story of a young woman's coming of age and a personal glimpse at a pivotal moment in modern history, the aftershocks of which reverberate to this day' -- Boris Dralyuk, poet and translator
'Passionate, hilarious, joyful' ― The Sunday Telegraph on The Anna Karenina Fix
'Delightful' ― The Times on The Anna Karenina Fix
'Enchanting' ― The Observer on The Anna Karenina Fix
'Ms. Groskop is a skilled raconteuse who brings people--and the page--to life' ― The Wall Street Journal on Au Revoir, Tristesse
Available Editions
| EDITION | Hardcover |
| ISBN | 9781804184868 |
| PRICE | £16.99 (GBP) |
