Your Presence Is Mandatory
Reader Score
59%
59% of readers
recommend this book
A riveting debut novel, based on real events, about a World War II veteran with a secret that could land him in the Gulag, and his family who are forced to live in the shadow of all he has not told them.
Ukraine, 2007. Yefim Shulman, husband, grandfather and war veteran, was beloved by his family and his coworkers. But in the days after his death, his widow Nina finds a letter to the KGB in his briefcase. Yefim had a lifelong secret, and his confession forces them to reassess the man they thought they knew and the country he had defended. In 1941, Yefim is a young artillerist on the border between the Soviet Union and Germany, eager to defend his country and his large Jewish family against Hitler's forces. But surviving the war requires sacrifices Yefim never imagined-and even when the war ends, his fight isn't over. He must conceal his choices from the KGB and from his family. Spanning seven decades between World War II and the current Russia-Ukraine conflict, Your Presence Is Mandatory traces the effect Yefim's coverup had on the lives of Nina, their two children and grandchildren. In the process, Sasha Vasilyuk shines a light on one family caught between two totalitarian regimes, and the grace they find in the course of their survival.Book Details
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
- Publish Date: Apr 23rd, 2024
- Pages: 336
- Language: English
- Dimensions: 9.40in - 6.30in - 1.30in - 1.35lb
- EAN: 9781639731534
- Categories: • Historical - 20th Century - World War II & Holocaust• Literary• Biographical
About the Author
Sasha Vasilyuk was born in the Soviet Crimea and spent her childhood between Ukraine and Russia before immigrating to San Francisco at the age of 13. She has a MA in Journalism from New York University, and her nonfiction has been published in The New York Times, Harper's Bazaar, BBC, The Telegraph, Narrative, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, and elsewhere. She has won several awards, including the Solas Award for Best Travel Writing, NATJA award, and BAM/PFA Fellowship from UC Berkeley. She lives in San Francisco, California with her husband and children
Praise for this book
"Captivating and suspenseful, Sasha Vasilyuk's novel is a tender tribute to the human spirit, a fresh and moving look at the nature of guilt and memory and one man's desire to survive at all costs. The characters loom off the page, so real, that I was quickly absorbed into this tragic yet life-affirming tale." --Kristina Gorcheva-Newberry, author of THE ORCHARD
"An engrossing family saga and a secret key for anyone who wants to understand how history has brought Ukrainians and Russians to where they are today." --Boris Fishman, author of SAVAGE FEAST "Your Presence Is Mandatory is a powerful story of a Jewish-Ukrainian family told in alternating time frames that stretch from WW2 Germany to 21st century Ukraine. In masterfully-crafted prose, Sasha Vasilyuk examines the harrowing choices her characters have to make to survive during and after the war." --Elena Gorokhova, author of A TRAIN TO MOSCOW "Your Presence Is Mandatory is an outstanding novel of sacrifice, love, and forgiveness. If you have any confusion about the current conflict between Ukraine and Russia, this illuminating story will clarify so very much. It did for me." --Susanne Pari, author of IN THE TIME OF OUR HISTORY and THE FORTUNE CATCHER "This novel is a masterful exploration of the weight of secrets, generational divides, war trauma, and the search for home and belonging within one's own homeland-a subject that feels more urgent than ever. Your Presence Is Mandatory should be mandatory reading for this time of crisis." --Maria Kuznetsova, author of OKSANA BEHAVE and SOMETHING UNBELIEVABLE