Ukrainian Fiction

Called “the most influential Ukrainian book for the 15 years of independence", Field Work in Ukrainian Sex by Oksana Zabuzhko is the tale of one woman’s personal revolt. It provoked the top literary scandal of the decade. The novel was first published in Ukraine in 1996, unleashing a storm of controversy and propelling the author to national fame. It topped the bestseller list in Ukraine for more than ten years, making it the most successful Ukrainian-language book of the '90s in every regard.

What happens when Western fantasies collide with Eastern reality? Dive into four riveting tales of romance, deception, resilience, and revolution in modern Ukraine. Foreigner’s Guide to Ukrainian Women and Other Stories offers a sharp, satirical, and deeply human lens into love and life across borders. Based on both fiction and real-life events, this bold collection pulls back the curtain on Eastern Europe’s untold dramas and romantic entanglements. 🧳 1. Foreigner’s Guide to Ukrainian Women Johnny Best is a tech millionaire tired of California’s hollow glitter. Hoping to find ...

Two years after my mother died, my father fell in love with a glamorous blonde Ukrainian divorcee. He was 84 and she was 36. She exploded into our lives like a fluffy pink grenade, churning up the murky water, bringing to the surface sludge of sloughed-off memories, giving the family ghosts a kick up the backside. Sisters Vera and Nadezhda must put aside a lifetime of feuding to save their émigré engineer father from voluptuous gold-digger Valentina.

The myths of Ukraine were never written in ink; they were whispered by the wind and carved into the banks of the Dnipro. Step into a land defined by extremes – where endless golden steppes meet the crushing density of the Carpathian forests. For centuries, the people here lived by a "dual faith," a survival strategy where the church provided salvation, but the spirits of the earth provided the rules. Whispers from the Dnipro is not just a collection of fairy tales; it is a record of the negotiations between humanity and the wild. In these pages, the spirits are not monsters to be slain by...

In the war-ravaged streets of Bucha, Major Andriy Koval is not just a homicide detective, he is a ghost haunted by the two faces he cannot find: his wife and daughter. Assigned to document the unspeakable atrocities left by the retreating Russian army, Andriy moves through a landscape of horror with a cold, professional detachment. But amidst the chaos of mass graves and summary executions, his trained eye spots what others miss: a pattern. A signature. The victims are bound not with standard zip ties, but with a specific, industrial-grade electrical cable. This is not the random brutality ...

In the pulverized ruins of eastern Ukraine, the battle for Chasiv Yar is the focal point of the entire war. For the Ukrainian defenders, it is the last door protecting the country's heartland; for the relentless Russian army, it is the gateway to total victory. At the center of this inferno is Captain Ivan Tkachuk, a battle-weary officer tasked with holding the city’s most critical sector: the Kanal microdistrict. Haunted by past battles and carrying a tremor from a shell that landed too close , Ivan is given command of the last reinforcements—a handful of terrified new soldiers who ...

Samson Kolechko has been assigned a most perplexing case - though it is mostly perplexing because it's hard to understand why selling the meat of one's own pig constitutes a crime. But apparently it does, and at the insistence of the Chekist secret police officer assigned to "reinforce" the...

An award-winning novel from one of Ukraine’s most prolific contemporary authors, Forgottenness tells a spellbinding story of belonging and uprootedness, as understood by two exiles across time. An exceedingly anxious narrator grapples with a host of conditions, from obsessive-compulsive disorder to a creeping sense of agoraphobia. As her symptoms deepen, she finds unexpected solace researching Viacheslav Lypynskyi (1882-1931), a social and political activist of Polish descent who played a pivotal role in the struggle for Ukrainian independence—and who nursed his own comorbidities.

Seven selected stories by Alexander Semenyuk, in various genre.

Тигролови Івана Багряного — історично-пригодницький роман, ідейно-тематичне коло якого — тема трагедії України в тоталітарному режимі. У центрі твору — доля молодого українського інтелігента Григорія Многогрішного. Твір є обов'язковою частиною шкільної програми. Іван Багряний — український письменник, автор романів Сад Гетсиманський, Людина біжить над прірвою та ін., низки повістей та оповідань.

Валер'ян Підмогильний створив модерний роман, в якому, на відміну від традиційної селянської і соціальної тематики, акцент перенесений на урбаністичну проблематику, порушені філософські питання буття й аналізована психіка героїв, а конфлікт розгортається між людьми з різними світоглядами. Місто — перший урбаністичний роман в українській літературі, з новими героями, проблематикою та манерою оповіді.

In the brutal digital trenches of the Russo-Ukrainian War, the most dangerous weapon is a line of code, and the deadliest battlefield is the one you cannot see. Lieutenant Anya "Kestrel" Kovalenko is a master of the new war. From a cramped command truck miles behind the front line, the brilliant but arrogant software-engineer-turned-soldier commands the Skystalkers, an elite Ukrainian drone unit. With her fleet of cheap, modified drones, she is the tip of the spear in the bloody 2023 counteroffensive, turning the tide of battle with every click. To her, the war is a complex real-time ...

Join Anton, a charismatic yet somewhat awkward stranger, on his heartwarming journey from Kiev to Kramatorsk. After a chance encounter in Prague and Alina's unexpected return to Ukraine, Anton follows his heart across borders to reunite with her. From their heartfelt reunion at the Kiev airport to their scenic train ride to Kramatorsk, this book not only paints the deepening bond between Anton and Alina but also provides a profound insight into the rich culture and history of Ukraine. In the tradition of "Everything is Illuminated," "From Kiev to Kramatorsk" intertwines romance and cultural...

Olena Vansiuk is broke, brilliant, and working alone in a basement darkroom in DUMBO, Brooklyn. A specialist in archival film restoration, she has spent six years developing a scanning method that extracts hidden spectral data from the silver crystals in photographic negatives, data no one knew was there. When a package arrives from Lviv containing a 1945 negative and a note in her dead great-grandfather's handwriting... You will know what to look for... Olena runs the scan and finds something standing in the photograph that no one present could see. Something with volume, with structure, ...

До цієї збірки кращих творів поета увійшли, зокрема, поезії «Лебеді материнства» і «Ти знаєш, що ти людина» — це програмні твори Василя Симоненка, які містять роздуми щодо людської сутності та про любов до України. Поезії «Задивляюсь у твої зіниці» та «Я…»— це вилита у рядки щира любов до України і філософські роздуми над людською індивідуальністю.

When tyranny tightens its grip, ordinary people rise up. Maidan Revolution is a searing work of historical fiction inspired by the real-life events of Ukraine’s 2013–2014 Revolution of Dignity. Set during one of the most explosive uprisings in modern European history, this powerful novella follows a disillusioned American war photographer who returns to Kyiv—a city he once loved—only to be swept into the firestorm of a nation’s fight for freedom. Through the lens of his camera, he documents more than just conflict—he captures courage, sacrifice, and a people’s refusal to be ...

Чорна рада – перший український історичний твір. Сам Куліш задумував його, як епос-хроніку. Тобто детальне змалювання подій певного проміжку часу. А за основу автор взяв один рік з життя України за часів Руїни. Основною подією роману є так звана Чорна рада у Ніжині 1663 року. Чорна рада 1663 року – реальна подія часів козаччини. Пентелеймон Куліш титанічно попрацював над своїм твором. Саме тому на сторінках роману читачів чекає детальне віддзеркалення подій, основних постатей тих часів їх наміри, вчинки, мотивації.

While the world watched the uprising on the Maidan as an episode in geopolitics, those in Ukraine lived the revolution as an existential transformation: the blurring of night and day, the loss of a sense of time, the sudden disappearance of fear, the imperative to make choices. In this lyrical and intimate book, Marci Shore evokes the human face of the Ukrainian Revolution. Grounded in the true stories of activists and soldiers, parents, and children, Shore's book blends a narrative of suspenseful choices with a historian's reflections on what revolution is and what it means.

Кобзар — збірка поетичних творів геніального українського митця Тараса Григоровича Шевченка, що увібрала в собі найбільш видатні його вірші та поеми. Твори, що увійшли до складу «Кобзаря», писалися на тернистих шляхах життя Шевченка, в неволі, у мандрах та вигнанні. Книга складалася поступово, її формувала сама доля великого українського кріпака. Надзвичайно милозвучною мовою автор розповідає про велич та красу українського народу, малює картину його історії та побуту, його трагедій та негараздів, натхнень та прагнень.

A collection of seventeen suspenseful short stories with unexpected endings. The events take place in Ukraine in the 1990s, during the early years of independence, at the beginning of the country’s transition from a totalitarian Soviet state to a democratic one. Most of the stories were originally published in numerous mass-market periodicals aimed at a broad audience, covering crime, romance, and youth themes. The collection ‘The Rat’ was also recognized with awards at two of Ukraine’s most prestigious national literary competitions for young authors. Contents 1. The Rat 2. The ...