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Five Stalks of Grain

Adrian Lysenko author Ivanka Theodosia Galadza author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:University of Calgary Press

Published:15th Jan '24

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Five Stalks of Grain cover

In 1932, as famine rages across Ukraine, the Soviet government calls for the harshest punishment for those who keep for themselves even five stalks of grain. When their mother is accused of hoarding and summarily killed, Nadia and Taras must leave their home on a desperate quest for survival.

Attempting to navigate a closed country, to stay together, and to stay alive, Nadia and Taras must face secret police, soldiers, and fellow citizens forced to abandon charity and sometimes even humanity in the face of impossible hunger. Unsure who to trust and unable to find refuge, they search for somewhere, anywhere, where they can be safe.

Historical fiction at its finest, Five Stalks of Grain is powerfully written and beautifully illustrated, drawing on Ukrainian artistic traditions to tell a story of loss, grief, and hardship with delicate strength. It is a record of a time of profound suffering and a reckoning with the human cost of a tragedy shaped by politics and policy.

This book is also available in Ukrainian.

Genuine horror and anguish undergird this poignant evocation of atrocity." - Publisher’s Weekly

"Conveys the trauma of the Holodomor with power and humanity." - The Toronto Star

"Shocking, heartbreaking and teeth-gnashingly relevant. A work of profound art, it deserves an important place in classrooms and school and personal libraries." - SesayArts Magazine

ISBN: 9781773855622

Dimensions: 279mm x 216mm x 10mm

Weight: 584g

152 pages