The death of a soldier told by his sister by Olesya Khromeychuk

The death of a soldier told by his sister by Olesya Khromeychuk is a lovely, emotional, beautifully written memoir. It is not a biography of her brother nor is it about the war in Ukraine, these are secondary to the memoir. The focus is on the author and her struggle to come to terms with what happened, with her brother’s death. She also talks about her experience as an immigrant and her brother’s experience as a immigrant in the Netherlands, how they were seen back in Ukraine and how they were seen in the countries they lived in. This is why I highly recommend this book.

Olesya Khromeychuk is a historian and she talks about war, as it is in the primary sources she studies for her research and how things can change once you get involved, as a civilian and citizen. Her older brother Volodymyr died on the frontline in eastern Ukraine, in Donbas, in 2017. It happened before the full-scale invasion, when most of Europe ignored that a hot war was happening in Ukraine. The memoir is short, just above 200 pages, written in a beautiful style, with a lovely flow. She raised so many different questions about death, if there are noble and less noble deaths for example. She also talks about things I didn’t consider, such as if they should have looked at the pictures her brother had on his phone.

In some cases I do not see the things as she does, but that is the beauty of reading a memoir, one gets to read about other experiences and other world views. I gave the book a very well deserved 5 stars. Do read it if you get the chance, it’s a book about experiencing the death of a loved one and about how people are relating to events when things change in their own lives.

The death of a soldier told by his sister by Olesya Khromeychuk

Details about the picture: –
My rating: 5/5 Stars
Would I recommend it: yes!
Published by: Monoray
Year it was published: 2022
Format: Hardcover
Genre(s): Memoir
Pages: 224

About the author: Olesya Khromeychuk is a historian of 20th century East-Central Europe, specialising in Ukrainian history. She has a PhD in History from University College London. Olesya has previously taught at King’s College London, the University of East Anglia, University College London and the University of Cambridge. She also runs a theatre company, Molodyi Teatr London, that stages documentary pieces exploring urgent social and political themes. Originally from Lviv, Olesya moved to the UK in 2000, since then she has been actively engaged in the life of the Ukrainian community in London and beyond.
Website & Social Media Links: olesyakhromeychuk