First Published: Jan 2020

Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery

Translated By: Boris Dralyuk

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A detective on the cover of a book on the International Booker long-list – it was all that was needed for me to pick it up.

Initially, till about 30% of the book, it felt to me that nothing major had happened (in terms of mystery), even with so many things happening in the story. We travel with Samson Kolechko, recently orphaned, through his grief and the circumstances that eventually lead him to become a detective. There is some mysticism to the whole “ear” situation, but I was left wondering where the mystery is. Mind you, it’s not slow-paced. I just went in expecting a bit too much, almost a Sherlock Holmes-like setup. (Yep, that cover got me good!)

There is a mystery to be solved though, and Samson, our protagonist, navigates slowly towards uncovering it. But we go beyond that. What we get is the feel of the place and time – of 1917 Kyiv, with the continuous military conflict and struggle for power and control. Without stating anything outright, we can feel the unrest and the fear. There is uncertainty and there is death. There is a lot of chaos, and in the midst of that, life must go on. There are normal regular people stuck between the fight for power. That is the beauty of the book and what it truly focuses on. To give us a picture of the times through the eyes of Samson and the others.

Quote from the book that describes the feelings of people stuck in a time of unrest:

“No matter where you hide, you can’t escape a collective misfortune. It will always catch up with you, making sure you get your share”.

The writing is truly the winner. We do get a mystery, sort of, but with a very believable and normal protagonist. A regular guy, learning the ropes and trying his best to get to the bottom of it. By the end of the book, we get a glimpse of the people, struggling to survive and live to the best of their abilities in such difficult times. The story could have easily gone dark but, thankfully, it doesn’t.

Not what I expected, but an absolutely wonderful read nevertheless. Highly recommend.