Take a photo of a barcode or cover
ube_cake 's review for:
Lucky Breaks
by Yevgenia Belorusets
«The florist disappeared. The house where she lived was destroyed. Her store was refitted into a warehouse of propaganda materials. (…) “She must be fighting on the side of the hyacinths.”»
Belorusets’ “Lucky Breaks” is a short story collection that documents the lives of Ukrainian women as they live through the Russo-Ukrainian War.
At times, the short stories are comedic—as in “The Woman with the Black, Broken Umbrella”, where the titular woman rescues the titular umbrella, only to berate it in a fit of frustration. Others are a touch more poignant—as in “The Florist” (which the quote above belongs to) and “Neighbour Histories”.
The author’s choice to focus on women is deliberate as she champions their unheard and overlooked lives: to represent the women who begrudgingly settle for establishments that objectify them that they don’t have to starve for one day, to bring to the foreground the women displaced by conflict and live with the trauma.
Given such heavy topics—discussions that need to be had—I am not entirely on board with the aphoristic quality of the majority of the stories. However, let this not take away from the fact that the quality of the writing is top-notch and clearly shows Belorusets’ skill to producing such literary photographs. The (actual) photographs by the author herself that pair some of these stories also help immerse the reader into the feeling and reality that is explored.
Having read this a few months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine early this year (2022) has made me all the more appreciate the importance of this collection. May “Lucky Breaks” be more widely read.
Belorusets’ “Lucky Breaks” is a short story collection that documents the lives of Ukrainian women as they live through the Russo-Ukrainian War.
At times, the short stories are comedic—as in “The Woman with the Black, Broken Umbrella”, where the titular woman rescues the titular umbrella, only to berate it in a fit of frustration. Others are a touch more poignant—as in “The Florist” (which the quote above belongs to) and “Neighbour Histories”.
The author’s choice to focus on women is deliberate as she champions their unheard and overlooked lives: to represent the women who begrudgingly settle for establishments that objectify them that they don’t have to starve for one day, to bring to the foreground the women displaced by conflict and live with the trauma.
Given such heavy topics—discussions that need to be had—I am not entirely on board with the aphoristic quality of the majority of the stories. However, let this not take away from the fact that the quality of the writing is top-notch and clearly shows Belorusets’ skill to producing such literary photographs. The (actual) photographs by the author herself that pair some of these stories also help immerse the reader into the feeling and reality that is explored.
Having read this a few months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine early this year (2022) has made me all the more appreciate the importance of this collection. May “Lucky Breaks” be more widely read.