In Lucky Breaks, Yevgenia Belorusets documents Russia’s war on Ukraine (that began in the Donbas region in 2014), in a series of fictional vignettes that are very sad, also very funny and right now, uncomfortably un-fictional. First published in 2018, originally in Russian, now translated by Eugene Ostashevsky, and published by New Directions, and by strange chance appearing this month.
Yevgenia Belorusets is also one of those crazy amazing people who hasn’t left Kyiv and is keeping a diary that can be accessed and subscribed to:
THE WAR DIARY OF YEVGENIA BELORUSETS
An excerpt from Lucky Breaks:
“A Note before the Preface
What can’t be given up?
A city.
A street.
You.
What can’t be measured?
My smile.
Your concern.
Our mutual understanding.
What do I believe in?
I believe nobody can believe in anything definite. It even makes no sense to try. People only make-believe they believe.”