The Rooster House: A Ukrainian Family Memoir by Victoria Belim

The Rooster House: A Ukrainian Family Memoir by Victoria Belim (received from Jonathan Ball Publishers) is a timely and deeply moving memoir of the author’s Ukrainian family history, interwoven with the country’s tumultuous story. I found this book especially topical in light of recent events in that country, and it piqued my interest in the origins of this conflict and the history of Ukraine.

In the year 2014, Russia wrought havoc on the landmarks of Victoria Belim's personal history. Kyiv, her cherished hometown, was engulfed in protests and violent suppression. The place where she sought refuge from Chornobyl's nuclear disaster during her school days, Crimea, fell victim to invasion. Kharkiv, where her beloved grandmother Valentina pursued economics and found love, and Donetsk, where her father once toiled, both turned into grim battlefields. Even Mariupol, where she and her mother planted a cherry tree in Valentina's garden, was not spared the ravages of war.

Having become a naturalised American citizen at the age of 15 and currently working as a journalist in Brussels, Belim felt an undeniable urge to revisit her country of birth, where her grandmother still resides in Bereh, in the very home of Belim's childhood. Her mission is to delve into a family enigma that spans several generations and seek an understanding of how her country's tragic history, encompassing the communist revolution, civil war, famine, WWII, totalitarianism, and fraught independence, has profoundly shaped the destinies of her relatives.

Although the mystery surrounding a great-uncle – fleetingly referred to in one of her great-grandfather’s notebooks as “Brother Nikodim, who vanished in the 1930s fighting for a free Ukraine,” and about whom she has no recollection – lies at the centre of her story, Belim’s memoir offers so much beyond this narrative. A deeply personal and emotionally charged journey unfolds, leading us through the rural Ukraine of Belim's youth. Along the way, she acquaints the reader with the culture of her country's courageous, enduring, and creative people, who, having confronted the harrowing trials of their nation's past, now must renew the fight for survival and independence.

The book's title alludes to the ominous Rooster House, a vast mansion located in the nearby region of Poltava. Initially serving as a bank, it later housed different iterations of the Soviet secret police. For Belim, this enigmatic place holds crucial significance, as she must journey there to get to the bottom of her great-uncle's mysterious disappearance in 1937.

As a fan of this genre, I really enjoyed The Rooster House, a beautifully crafted memoir that offers a unique insight into a typical Ukrainian family’s past and dangerous present. The book brims with vibrant characters, their intricate relationships, their passions, and their art and crafts while highlighting the central significance of tending to their gardens. If you relish memoirs and are interested in learning more about this country, you'll find this debut a moving and captivating read.