From one of Ukraine’s most prolific contemporary authors comes this profound novel of belonging and uprootedness, as understood by two exiles across time. Forgottenness movingly―and unflinchingly―illuminates the intricacies of the Ukrainian experience in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. An exceedingly anxious young narrator grapples with a host of conditions, from obsessive-compulsive disorder and alcoholism to a creeping sense of agoraphobia. As her symptoms deepen, she finds unexpected solace and companionship in researching the historical figure of Viacheslav Lypynskyi (1882–1931), a social and political activist of Polish descent who played a pivotal role in the struggle for Ukrainian independence― only to be nearly erased from historical memory.
From one of Ukraine’s most prolific contemporary authors comes this profound novel of belonging and uprootedness, as understood by two exiles across time. Forgottenness movingly―and unflinchingly―illuminates the intricacies of the Ukrainian experience in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. An exceedingly anxious young narrator grapples with a host of conditions, from obsessive-compulsive disorder and alcoholism to a creeping sense of agoraphobia. As her symptoms deepen, she finds unexpected solace and companionship in researching the historical figure of Viacheslav Lypynskyi (1882–1931), a social and political activist of Polish descent who played a pivotal role in the struggle for Ukrainian independence― only to be nearly erased from historical memory.