A woman of my kind

Student Daryna Gayevska explores her own family tree, looking at old photos and listening to stories about the life of her great-grandmother Anna.

The novel “A Woman of My Kind” is a saga about the lives of four generations against the backdrop of historical events in Ukraine spanning the years 1928–2023. Our story moves in a spiral: the same enemies who took away Anna’s youth and freedom a century ago have started a large-scale war now, when Daryna is enjoying her student years. After all, even the relatively peaceful life of Daryna’s grandmother and mother is only seemingly blessed, because being Ukrainians under Soviet occupation is not easy, sometimes dangerous.

The amulet of the family — the shirt that Anna embroidered in the Gulag — is a symbol of the dream of freedom and returning home.