Philipovna: Daughter of Sorrow

Philipovna: The Daughter of Sorrow is a creative non-fiction based on my mother's survival of the holodomor in the early 1930s. It is the story of an orphan who goes to live with her aunt in a rural village, and the horrors they face between 1930 and 1933. Only Philipovna, a cousin, and the aunt survive.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 285 pages
Publication date: 01 May 2019
Publisher: Guernica Editions,Canada

Based on her mother's remarkable survival of the Holodomor, a devastating famine that struck Ukraine in the early 1930s, Philipovna: The Daughter of Sorrow is a captivating work of creative non-fiction. The narrative revolves around an orphan who finds herself living with her aunt in a remote village in the Ukrainian countryside. The aunt makes a solemn oath on her deceased sister's Bible, vowing that Vera Philipovna, the daughter of a cobbler and seamstress from a small village in Chercassy, Ukraine, will endure any hardships that may befall the family. However, no one could have predicted the horrific atrocities that they would endure between the fall of 1930 and the spring of 1933. Despite the tragic circumstances, only Philipovna, a cousin, and the aunt manage to survive. A pre-pubescent girl, who serves as the narrator, unflinchingly recounts the brutal acts of savagery perpetrated against the village, providing a poignant insight into the beauty and richness of Ukrainian culture, encompassing its superstitions, customs, and celebrations.

Weight: 394g
Dimension: 225 x 156 x 17 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781771833691