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Snegurochka
‘Something terrible is happening here. Something terrible has already happened.’ Snegurochka opens in Kiev in 1992, one year after Ukraine’s declaration of independence. Rachel, a troubled young English mother, joins her journalist husband on his first foreign posting in the city. Terrified of their apartment's balcony with its view of the Motherland statue she develops obsessive rituals to keep her three-month old baby safe. Her difficulties expose her to a disturbing endgame between Elena Vasilyevna, the old caretaker, and Mykola Sirko, a shady businessman who sends Rachel a gift. Rachel is the interloper, ignorant, isolated, yet also culpable with her secrets and her estrangements. As consequences bear down she seeks out Zoya, her husband’s caustic-tongued fixer, and Stepan, the boy from upstairs who watches them all. Betrayal is everywhere and home is uncertain, but in the end there are many ways to be a mother.
304 pages, Paperback
First published April 15, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
March 19, 2022
The novel is set in 1992 in newly independent Ukraine. Young mother Rachel joins her BBC journalist husband, Lucas, along with their baby son, Ivan. They are outsiders and we observe life in Kiev, largely through Rachel’s eyes. The umbilical cord with Russia is not yet severed and the Soviet legacy will take time to dissolve. Five or so years after Chernobyl, the scars remain on the nation’s health and the birth rate is in decline.
Poverty, and distrust of the foreigner/outsider runs through the novel. A corrupt mafia style market system runs alongside the state system. The former is feared and distrusted by much of the population, with good cause.
The title of the novel is the name given to the character in a fairy tale, a maiden formed of snow. When the Soviets banned the celebration of Christmas a Snegurochka festival seemed to be celebrated in its place at Yuletide/ New Year.
A beautiful piece of writing which is haunting in its impact. I am still trying to make up my mind about it. Many of the characters are damaged and damaging. Elena is classic fable material. Good witch or bad? And her ‘familiar’ Stepan? Rachel and Lucas’ relationship looks less than healthy in Ukraine. Perhaps the conditions there do not suit it. I found myself increasingly unsympathetic to him.
As a snapshot of life in Ukraine 30 years ago I am struck by how this nation seems to have developed and matured within a generation. This makes its invasion seem even more wrong -but sadly unsurprising.
Poverty, and distrust of the foreigner/outsider runs through the novel. A corrupt mafia style market system runs alongside the state system. The former is feared and distrusted by much of the population, with good cause.
The title of the novel is the name given to the character in a fairy tale, a maiden formed of snow. When the Soviets banned the celebration of Christmas a Snegurochka festival seemed to be celebrated in its place at Yuletide/ New Year.
A beautiful piece of writing which is haunting in its impact. I am still trying to make up my mind about it. Many of the characters are damaged and damaging. Elena is classic fable material. Good witch or bad? And her ‘familiar’ Stepan? Rachel and Lucas’ relationship looks less than healthy in Ukraine. Perhaps the conditions there do not suit it. I found myself increasingly unsympathetic to him.
As a snapshot of life in Ukraine 30 years ago I am struck by how this nation seems to have developed and matured within a generation. This makes its invasion seem even more wrong -but sadly unsurprising.
May 19, 2020
I had an obvious interest in this book as I've grown up in Ukraine. I left it for St Petersburg in Russia exactly when the main protagonist of this story, English young mother Rachel has arrived. The success of this book is in creating a very tense atmosphere of a person's state without the common language in an unusual environment. The main character and her claustrophobic world is authentic and alive. However, it is not sufficient by itself to sustain the novel. Her problems are growing a little too repetitive. The Ukrainian cast is much less convincing. And relegation at the end to the twist from a cheap thriller has put me off.
2.5 rounded up
2.5 rounded up
April 20, 2019
This is an extraordinary story set in Kiev in 1992 not long after the Ukraine has gained its independence from Russia. The country is out on a limb with fresh food being a luxury that few can afford. Black marketeers thrive selling illegally obtained fruit and vegetables from the still contaminated areas that surround the Chernobyl disaster that happened in 1986 when a nuclear accident occurred. In its wake babies were still being born with terrible deformities or even still-born.
Lucas a BBC radio journalist had moved out to Kiev to work on a new project and the story begins with his wife Rachel and their baby son Ivan joining him in the thirteenth storey apartment with balcony. Rachel has compulsive disorders that control her life, from counting, to rigid routines that she feels she must follow or her baby will die.
Although Rachel is welcomed into the social group that Lucas belongs to she is quite isolated because no-one else has a baby. The residents of Kiev look on with disdain because of her relaxed western ways to their traditional methods. The thought of bringing a baby into such a harsh place seeming insane to the local residents. Elena, the caretaker of the apartment block where Rachel lives, only speaks Russian and Rachel only English, what begins as a battle of wills turns into quite something else.
There is a strong circle of characters that eventually become very central to Rachel’s life, from a Mafia boss that takes an interest in her and Ivan to Zoya, her husband’s ‘fixer’, Elena the old caretaker and Stepan a street boy. All of them with their own secrets and problems. They are an unlikely band of companions that are brought together because of their isolation and personal problems. I grew to love each of these broken characters.
This is a gritty story that strips emotions and fears to their ultimate exposure while I became entwined in each of these people’s lives. The tough weren’t as tough and the weak had more strength than I thought they could ever have. Beautifully written I was captivated by the harsh conditions of this country and its people.
I wish to thank Virgin Media for a e-copy of this book which I have reviewed honestly.
Lucas a BBC radio journalist had moved out to Kiev to work on a new project and the story begins with his wife Rachel and their baby son Ivan joining him in the thirteenth storey apartment with balcony. Rachel has compulsive disorders that control her life, from counting, to rigid routines that she feels she must follow or her baby will die.
Although Rachel is welcomed into the social group that Lucas belongs to she is quite isolated because no-one else has a baby. The residents of Kiev look on with disdain because of her relaxed western ways to their traditional methods. The thought of bringing a baby into such a harsh place seeming insane to the local residents. Elena, the caretaker of the apartment block where Rachel lives, only speaks Russian and Rachel only English, what begins as a battle of wills turns into quite something else.
There is a strong circle of characters that eventually become very central to Rachel’s life, from a Mafia boss that takes an interest in her and Ivan to Zoya, her husband’s ‘fixer’, Elena the old caretaker and Stepan a street boy. All of them with their own secrets and problems. They are an unlikely band of companions that are brought together because of their isolation and personal problems. I grew to love each of these broken characters.
This is a gritty story that strips emotions and fears to their ultimate exposure while I became entwined in each of these people’s lives. The tough weren’t as tough and the weak had more strength than I thought they could ever have. Beautifully written I was captivated by the harsh conditions of this country and its people.
I wish to thank Virgin Media for a e-copy of this book which I have reviewed honestly.
April 9, 2019
Snegurochka, by Judith Heneghan, is a claustrophobic, multi-layered tale that offers a window into life in Kiev shortly after Ukraine gained independence from the Soviet Union in the aftermath of its dissolution. The story focuses on a young mother, Rachel, who travels from England with her infant son to join her journalist husband, Lucas, in the city where he works on a freelance basis for the BBC. The little family move into an apartment on the thirteenth floor of a Soviet era tower block. Isolated by language and the demands of a young baby, Rachel develops compulsive coping strategies. She pictures herself dropping the child from the apartment balcony so refuses to go near it, much to the frustration of Lucas who chose the apartment partly for this feature. He struggles to see the woman he married in the withdrawn mother she has become.
Lucas enjoys the company of colleagues in Kiev who welcome Rachel but cannot empathise with her as they do not have children. The local people question why she brought a baby from a country of plenty to what they regard as a blighted place. The Chernobyl disaster has caused ongoing cancers and other birth defects. There are shortages of fresh produce and concern over its provenance given how much land has been polluted. When Rachel does not conform to their customs, they criticise the way she cares for her child.
With shortages of food and material goods comes an underground network of smugglers, gangsters and fixers. Memories of widespread famine, then of Soviet spies and betrayal, are still raw amongst the population. Rachel has asked Lucas to source a washing machine for their apartment but money is tight and such white goods imported. To acquire one requires more than a monetary transaction.
Rachel walks around the neighbourhood pushing her baby buggy and trying to work out where and how items may be bought. She attends a few social events with Lucas and his friends but finds little in common with these photographers and journalists, vying for their next story and milking contacts. Instead she observes local people: the elderly caretaker of their building, a teenager living in the apartment above, her husband’s driver. They each have their secrets and are somewhat contemptuous of Rachel but grow concerned when a ‘businessman’ starts to pay her attention.
The subtle shifts between ordinary actions – reading a book, catching a tram, walking through a crowd – and the threatening undercurrents that are ever present, provide not just suspense but a questioning of the veracity of each character. Rachel is aware that many of her fears have no solid basis, yet cancers are not the only malady infecting Ukraine’s people. The dangers encroaching those she starts to care for are rooted deep, exacerbated by their need to survive after futures have been stymied by changes in government, ongoing corruption and the resentments generated.
This is a fascinating portrayal of Kiev and its people, written with skill, depth and sympathy but never shying away from darker facets. At its heart is the story of a marriage, of motherhood, and of a place contaminated by its terrible history. It is an alluring and gratifying read.
Lucas enjoys the company of colleagues in Kiev who welcome Rachel but cannot empathise with her as they do not have children. The local people question why she brought a baby from a country of plenty to what they regard as a blighted place. The Chernobyl disaster has caused ongoing cancers and other birth defects. There are shortages of fresh produce and concern over its provenance given how much land has been polluted. When Rachel does not conform to their customs, they criticise the way she cares for her child.
With shortages of food and material goods comes an underground network of smugglers, gangsters and fixers. Memories of widespread famine, then of Soviet spies and betrayal, are still raw amongst the population. Rachel has asked Lucas to source a washing machine for their apartment but money is tight and such white goods imported. To acquire one requires more than a monetary transaction.
Rachel walks around the neighbourhood pushing her baby buggy and trying to work out where and how items may be bought. She attends a few social events with Lucas and his friends but finds little in common with these photographers and journalists, vying for their next story and milking contacts. Instead she observes local people: the elderly caretaker of their building, a teenager living in the apartment above, her husband’s driver. They each have their secrets and are somewhat contemptuous of Rachel but grow concerned when a ‘businessman’ starts to pay her attention.
The subtle shifts between ordinary actions – reading a book, catching a tram, walking through a crowd – and the threatening undercurrents that are ever present, provide not just suspense but a questioning of the veracity of each character. Rachel is aware that many of her fears have no solid basis, yet cancers are not the only malady infecting Ukraine’s people. The dangers encroaching those she starts to care for are rooted deep, exacerbated by their need to survive after futures have been stymied by changes in government, ongoing corruption and the resentments generated.
This is a fascinating portrayal of Kiev and its people, written with skill, depth and sympathy but never shying away from darker facets. At its heart is the story of a marriage, of motherhood, and of a place contaminated by its terrible history. It is an alluring and gratifying read.
May 19, 2019
4.5 stars beautifully written & haunted me long after finishing
January 18, 2020
Visit the locations in the novel
I went into this book not knowing what the title meant. I only looked it up a few chapters in and it brings a new meaning to the novel! This is something I mention this at the end of the review for those of you who want to keep the magic until later. This is a story rooted in the heart and soul of Kiev, Ukraine and the surrounding Russian heartland.
Ukraine has just gained independence from the Soviet Union. It’s 1992 but the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster of 1986 are still being felt.
This is the background against which Rachel and her husband Lucas come with their baby to start a new life. He is to start a new job and they take an apartment to a room on the thirteenth floor of a block. Now that set the scene for me straight away. A balcony on the unlucky 13th floor with a baby? Understandably, she becomes nervous and paranoid about living there. Lucas is busy working so can’t and doesn’t see what is happening at home.
She makes friends with other people in the building and it’s from these people that she comes to depend upon. Remember that life is hard in general at this time and that goods which are hard to come by; food, clothes and anything else really brings high prices, gangs and chancers. There is a real sense of unease during the book and you get to see a real glimpse of what life must have been like. What must have it been like to feel as if you were being watched for example? The Russians might have left but their presence is still very much there.
I think the cover is particularly clever as the snapshots of the city of Kiev very much reflect what’s inside; snapshots of life itself. You really get under the skin of this city, its people and the nuances of both.
And going back to that title: Snegurochka is the name of the Snow Maiden who is a unique character of Russian folklore. Folklore, fantasy and history merge into what makes a fascinating picture and insight into the heart and soul of a city and its people.
June 28, 2019
Kiev, recently independent from Russian control and shortly after the Chernobyl disaster is wonderfully drawn in this novel. Life is hard. Rachel is a young mother who travels from a land of freedom and plenty in England to join her husband in the city with their young child. She is isolated through language, custom and her own need for compulsive coping strategies. This story is about motherhood and marriage against a backdrop of a setting haunted by its dark and terrible past. Snegurochka is a compelling and claustrophobic tale, multilayered and beautifully written.
May 7, 2019
As close to five stars as makes no difference.
Before I start properly, think of the last time you read a novel where the cover art included an exact place you've been. I've been under the arch on the bottom left of this book's cover, wishing I needed a kvas from the street seller, and hearing trained performers rehearse through the open windows of the musical academy just a block away. But I certainly wasn't in Kiev under the pretence of being a journalist, and certainly not dragging a wife with a four-month-old babe in arms with me. Said wife, Rachel, struggles with her new situation, while her husband gallivants around, allegedly gaining material for the BBC World Service, and only slowly finds the ground beneath her feet begin to stabilise.
This book was right up my street, for while it wasn't my Ukraine, as it's set before I made my first of six entrances to the place, it just smacked of authenticity. The desultory tower block life is right out of Kieslowski films, the shortages and queues at the stores are things I've read about often – this really does convey life in the country immediately after the collapse of the USSR. It also sums up the Crimea in just a few words and nails it – something about it being a military base with seaside resort pretensions. But I guess many readers will be coming here due to the story and not so much the setting.
The plot, as it is, was thoroughly intriguing throughout. I did initially feel it was a little off – the husband was clearly so naive and inept, forcing a mother and baby to travel so far, to such little end, that I felt the book overly biased against the male species. But slowly, slowly, other people become involved in their story – his colleagues, their neighbours, er, the mafia – and you always wonder if this book is going to break into a genre piece, or if it will remain what it sets out as, which is a study of a woman in a place and in a family, and with a child, that she might not have wished for. For from the thirteenth floor apartment, with limited space, convenience and amenity, our heroine is constantly imagining her baby plummeting to his death…
Yes, this city of malaise does not make for a most joyful read, or particularly one you would dash to return to, but it's a very interesting and clever read. With no narrative tricksiness it shows us the author's knowledge of that time and place, and more importantly a wonderful character, one who struggles with her new-found family and her new-found sense of displacement. Rich and readable, this is well worth turning to.
Before I start properly, think of the last time you read a novel where the cover art included an exact place you've been. I've been under the arch on the bottom left of this book's cover, wishing I needed a kvas from the street seller, and hearing trained performers rehearse through the open windows of the musical academy just a block away. But I certainly wasn't in Kiev under the pretence of being a journalist, and certainly not dragging a wife with a four-month-old babe in arms with me. Said wife, Rachel, struggles with her new situation, while her husband gallivants around, allegedly gaining material for the BBC World Service, and only slowly finds the ground beneath her feet begin to stabilise.
This book was right up my street, for while it wasn't my Ukraine, as it's set before I made my first of six entrances to the place, it just smacked of authenticity. The desultory tower block life is right out of Kieslowski films, the shortages and queues at the stores are things I've read about often – this really does convey life in the country immediately after the collapse of the USSR. It also sums up the Crimea in just a few words and nails it – something about it being a military base with seaside resort pretensions. But I guess many readers will be coming here due to the story and not so much the setting.
The plot, as it is, was thoroughly intriguing throughout. I did initially feel it was a little off – the husband was clearly so naive and inept, forcing a mother and baby to travel so far, to such little end, that I felt the book overly biased against the male species. But slowly, slowly, other people become involved in their story – his colleagues, their neighbours, er, the mafia – and you always wonder if this book is going to break into a genre piece, or if it will remain what it sets out as, which is a study of a woman in a place and in a family, and with a child, that she might not have wished for. For from the thirteenth floor apartment, with limited space, convenience and amenity, our heroine is constantly imagining her baby plummeting to his death…
Yes, this city of malaise does not make for a most joyful read, or particularly one you would dash to return to, but it's a very interesting and clever read. With no narrative tricksiness it shows us the author's knowledge of that time and place, and more importantly a wonderful character, one who struggles with her new-found family and her new-found sense of displacement. Rich and readable, this is well worth turning to.
August 22, 2019
What an incredible book. Set in Kiev in 1992. Following the Ukraine gaining independence from the Soviet Union and just a few short years after the Chernobyl disaster. Rachel moves to the city with her new baby to be with her journalist husband Lucas.
Moving to a thirteenth floor apartment in an austere tower block Rachel, who is struggling to find her feet as a new mother whilst in new surroundings, becomes increasingly paranoid about her baby, Ivan, falling from the balcony. This leads to increasingly obsessive routines needing to take place for her to protect Ivan from her imagined fears.
Lucas’ job is demanding and he often works long hours although his work hard mentally comes hand in hand with a play hard attitude so Rachel is often alone and although his local friends welcome her with open arms she feels quite isolated.
She makes unlikely friends with the non English speaking Elena who at first takes a dislike to her, Zoya, her husbands fixer and Stepan an unruly teenager who lives upstairs and knows a little bit to much about her life.
With products of any description being hard to source at this time there is an underground world for fixers and gangsters that leave a real feeling of unease throughout the book. One particular gangster taking an unhealthy interests in the mother and child.
Now this book is incredibly visceral. Every part of the reading experience transports you to Kiev and the unease of the conditions. The fear of spy’s, phones being tapped. The real threat of the cancers locals fear from the collapse of the nuclear reactor.
The most beautiful part for me was ultimately about the human interactions, husband and wife. A mother and her son, unease in social situations and about overcoming fear.
This is a 4.5 ⭐️ read for me. Kept me up until 2am. Read it.
Moving to a thirteenth floor apartment in an austere tower block Rachel, who is struggling to find her feet as a new mother whilst in new surroundings, becomes increasingly paranoid about her baby, Ivan, falling from the balcony. This leads to increasingly obsessive routines needing to take place for her to protect Ivan from her imagined fears.
Lucas’ job is demanding and he often works long hours although his work hard mentally comes hand in hand with a play hard attitude so Rachel is often alone and although his local friends welcome her with open arms she feels quite isolated.
She makes unlikely friends with the non English speaking Elena who at first takes a dislike to her, Zoya, her husbands fixer and Stepan an unruly teenager who lives upstairs and knows a little bit to much about her life.
With products of any description being hard to source at this time there is an underground world for fixers and gangsters that leave a real feeling of unease throughout the book. One particular gangster taking an unhealthy interests in the mother and child.
Now this book is incredibly visceral. Every part of the reading experience transports you to Kiev and the unease of the conditions. The fear of spy’s, phones being tapped. The real threat of the cancers locals fear from the collapse of the nuclear reactor.
The most beautiful part for me was ultimately about the human interactions, husband and wife. A mother and her son, unease in social situations and about overcoming fear.
This is a 4.5 ⭐️ read for me. Kept me up until 2am. Read it.
June 12, 2019
This is a tremendous read set in early 1990s Kiev, Ukraine, in the intoxicating but raw and confused years directly after the collapse of the Soviet Union. If that now feels like distant history, since smothered by other tumultuous events, 'Snegurochka' brings the period back to vibrant life.
It's a book rich in closely observed detail, one that knows how to evoke a place and a people hungry for new direction, but captive of events in their singular past.
In the middle of this challenging space is a young English mother, who has forces in her own past to contend with, even as she nurses her months-old son.
At its heart 'Snegurochka' is a thriller, and like all good thrillers it's as much interested in the interior life of its characters as in the exterior events that drive their actions and relationships.
The dialogue, and the traits, secrets and intentions hidden behind spoken words, is a particular strength in Judith Heneghan's book, propelling the action with a quiet urgency.
And how true (sometimes) is the adage that what you see on the cover is what you get inside. It's an artfully assembled collection of real snapshots from Kiev during the period...grey, concrete, forbidding, a bit dehumanised, with the Orthodox Church never far off. What Judith Heneghan does so effectively in 'Snegurochka' is to scratch the surface to reveal a magical, if troubled, other side.
It's a book rich in closely observed detail, one that knows how to evoke a place and a people hungry for new direction, but captive of events in their singular past.
In the middle of this challenging space is a young English mother, who has forces in her own past to contend with, even as she nurses her months-old son.
At its heart 'Snegurochka' is a thriller, and like all good thrillers it's as much interested in the interior life of its characters as in the exterior events that drive their actions and relationships.
The dialogue, and the traits, secrets and intentions hidden behind spoken words, is a particular strength in Judith Heneghan's book, propelling the action with a quiet urgency.
And how true (sometimes) is the adage that what you see on the cover is what you get inside. It's an artfully assembled collection of real snapshots from Kiev during the period...grey, concrete, forbidding, a bit dehumanised, with the Orthodox Church never far off. What Judith Heneghan does so effectively in 'Snegurochka' is to scratch the surface to reveal a magical, if troubled, other side.
September 16, 2020
‘The monastery is starkly beautiful in the snow. Rachel has managed glimpses of it on previous walks [...] She lets go of Ivan’s pushchair and turns round, taking it all in.’
.
Snegurochka is about Rachel, a young British woman who has recently had a baby and moved to Kiev to join her husband, a freelance journalist. The novel follows Rachel as she struggles to navigate an unfamiliar city and new motherhood. Set in 1992, it captures the atmosphere of a newly independent Ukraine, its ties to its Soviet past and its characters, from the elderly caretakers of apartment blocks to local teenagers, businessmen, expats and journalists looking for stories. Rachel’s own anxieties, attachment to habits and later her growing autonomy reflect the mood of the country she finds herself in. 3.5 stars.
.
Snegurochka is about Rachel, a young British woman who has recently had a baby and moved to Kiev to join her husband, a freelance journalist. The novel follows Rachel as she struggles to navigate an unfamiliar city and new motherhood. Set in 1992, it captures the atmosphere of a newly independent Ukraine, its ties to its Soviet past and its characters, from the elderly caretakers of apartment blocks to local teenagers, businessmen, expats and journalists looking for stories. Rachel’s own anxieties, attachment to habits and later her growing autonomy reflect the mood of the country she finds herself in. 3.5 stars.
June 10, 2019
Rachel and Lucas haven’t been married long when he gets his first posting as a journalist abroad. When she joins him in Kiev in October 1992, first son, Ivan, is only three months old. Lucas has signed a year’s lease on a thirteenth-floor flat with a glassed-in balcony but, where he perceives an eyrie in which to smoke and observe the city, she imagines the baby tumbling to his death.
Full review
Young marriages under strain: Asghar and Zahra & Snegurochka https://annegoodwin.weebly.com/1/post...
Full review
Young marriages under strain: Asghar and Zahra & Snegurochka https://annegoodwin.weebly.com/1/post...
July 29, 2019
The narrative is quite dark, set in the grey backdrop of the Kiev, but I found it to be a real page turner. Rachel is a troubled, but fascinating, character who clearly struggled with moving to new surroundings, but gradually started to find her place within them. The setting is interesting and the story is cleverly written.
April 24, 2019
Well done @JudithHeneghan I was in Kiev in 1994, you have caught the essence of the place with a magnificent flick of the pen. Snegurochka is well worth a read.
January 25, 2023
I struggled with this book. To generalise to one sentence, the book covers post-natal depression and talks about a woman, who gave up her life in London (with access to Elizabeth Arden face creams) to go after her husband (who works for the BBC) and live in Kiev with a newborn baby in the 90s (with limited access to only fake Revlon mascaras) and hang out with Western-group of people in Ukraine. If this sounds interesting & intriguing – this book is for you.
The book describes life in the 90s pretty well, however, there is way too much judgement and prejudices from main characters. Instead of trying to adapt (or even try to learn a language?) they want everything to be in their, western way. Every Ukrainian character is portrayed as two-faced, untrustworthy and corrupt. Let’s put it this way – the main character (Rachel), doesn’t speak the local language so she only really communicates with those who speak English. These are either other “expats” or people who work with “expats” (and therefore earn more $ than a regular Ukrainian). Isn’t this the core problem of immigration? On top of this, the book also attempted to be a crime book and a thriller at the end – and there was no need for that. Perhaps, I judge the content and the story too harshly. The writing was good – I felt very depressed and claustrophobic reading and being with Rachel.
The book describes life in the 90s pretty well, however, there is way too much judgement and prejudices from main characters. Instead of trying to adapt (or even try to learn a language?) they want everything to be in their, western way. Every Ukrainian character is portrayed as two-faced, untrustworthy and corrupt. Let’s put it this way – the main character (Rachel), doesn’t speak the local language so she only really communicates with those who speak English. These are either other “expats” or people who work with “expats” (and therefore earn more $ than a regular Ukrainian). Isn’t this the core problem of immigration? On top of this, the book also attempted to be a crime book and a thriller at the end – and there was no need for that. Perhaps, I judge the content and the story too harshly. The writing was good – I felt very depressed and claustrophobic reading and being with Rachel.
August 9, 2022
This is book 10 of my 20 Books of Summer 2022.
I found this book to be almost claustrophic in its' feel as it explores the isolation felt by a new mother in a new land, as her husband moves to Kiev to take up a new job, and his wife has to deal with anxieties and paranoia as she comes to terms with her new life. While her husband finds the switch an exciting challenge, we get to witness Rachel trying to deal with day to day life amongst a city wondering why outsiders would be there in the harsh times they are facing in their country, not long after Ukraine gets its' independence.
Rachel gets through each day with strict coping mechanisms, which almost drive her husband to insanity, but to her it is the only way to make it through day by day as she tries to navigate her way through life with a language barrier and a different way of life.
With flashbacks to her childhood, we get to understand her character a little more and what led her to have these anxieties and issues and you really get the sense of isolation she feels, despite the best intentions of some of the locals who are only there to try and help her.
A very timely read seeing as Ukraine is so much in the news at the moment, and a very powerful story and exploration of life in a different country.
I found this book to be almost claustrophic in its' feel as it explores the isolation felt by a new mother in a new land, as her husband moves to Kiev to take up a new job, and his wife has to deal with anxieties and paranoia as she comes to terms with her new life. While her husband finds the switch an exciting challenge, we get to witness Rachel trying to deal with day to day life amongst a city wondering why outsiders would be there in the harsh times they are facing in their country, not long after Ukraine gets its' independence.
Rachel gets through each day with strict coping mechanisms, which almost drive her husband to insanity, but to her it is the only way to make it through day by day as she tries to navigate her way through life with a language barrier and a different way of life.
With flashbacks to her childhood, we get to understand her character a little more and what led her to have these anxieties and issues and you really get the sense of isolation she feels, despite the best intentions of some of the locals who are only there to try and help her.
A very timely read seeing as Ukraine is so much in the news at the moment, and a very powerful story and exploration of life in a different country.
July 2, 2019
Snegurochka by Judith Heneghan starts with new mother Rachel moving to Kiev in the Ukraine to follow her BBC journalist husband Lucas in his career pursuits. The baby, Ivan, is only 3 months old when she makes the journey over and already Rachel is struggling to cope. On her arrival in Kiev she is greeted by her new home, an austere tower block, on the 13th floor of which is her flat. It is 1992 and the Ukraine has not long gained independence from the USSR, the Chernobyl disaster occurred a mere 6 years prior to this, the repercussions of which are still very much being felt.
Being 13 floors up unnerves Rachel and she has a particular fear of going out onto the balcony which is just off the living room. She has visions of herself letting baby Ivan drop over the edge of balcony to his certain death. These images plague her and she has to comfort herself with various obsessive rituals in order to keep her anxiety levels manageable and most importantly to keep her baby safe. She has counting rituals, going over and over the same pages of words in the same book (Jurassic Park), she counts and neatly orders her diminishing supply of Pampers nappies for the baby, she counts groups of words and mutters the same phrases over and over. If she is unexpectedly deviated in some way from her rituals she becomes increasingly anxious. Going anywhere near the balcony is completely out of the question.
Rachel looks down, still bewildered by the sight of her white arms cradling her son with the small brown spot above his right ear that will one day be a mole, his eyelashes like tiny scratches and his pink, almost translucent nostrils. Earlier, in the living room, she had glimpsed Ivan falling. Such visions she knows, must be dismissed with a sharp shake of her head before they can fix themselves like premonitions, like memories, but Vee had been watching her so she hadn't moved. It's a long way down from the thirteenth floor. Five seconds, she thinks. Maybe six.....
Lucas is working long hours and has to quite often drop everything and chase a potential lead for a story. He is extremely ambitious and is desperate to prove that moving his wife and baby son over to the Ukraine has been worth it. He wants to make a name for himself as a good journalist and wants to be the one to discover the next big scoop. In doing this he does lots of networking and has already made a few friends to socialise and talk shop with before Rachel makes it to Kiev. Rachel has to infiltrate his world or end up isolated on the periphery. At first it is just herself and the baby, left to their own devices a lot. She walks the streets with Ivan in his pram, garnering disapproving looks from the old women, who seem to be disappointed that she has brought a new baby from a land of plenty to a place where fresh produce and many items besides are in short supply. One such woman is the caretaker (or dezhornaya) of Lucas and Rachel's building Elena Vasilyevna, a woman who Rachel is initially very dubious of with her disapproving looks and taciturn demeanour. A young boy Stepan who lives in the apartment above Rachel and Lucas also becomes involved in the narrative. A boy who sees things from the periphery and has allegiances of his own.
Stepan's job is to hold each jar steady while Elena stands on a stool and ladles in the soft purple heads. When the lids are secured and the jars are wiped clean she will store them beneath the stairs with the bottled pears and tomatoes, the trays of chitting potatoes and the onion seeds in their twists of yellowed newspaper. If he likes, decides Elena, he could help her in the spring. She could start him on some digging.
Stepan screws up his face as the steam rises in vinegary clouds. He'll want payment, that's obvious, and he has a taste for preserved cherries so for now she will give him half a jar. Elena knows about hunger. She knows how starved limbs swell, how skin becomes shiny, almost see-through, before it splits open and the body's fluids leak out. Famine eats you from the inside. When winter comes, hold on to what you've got.
Life is hard in the Ukraine and the only way to procure certain items, for example white goods, seems to be via underground rackateers and 'fixers'. Rachel becomes inadvertently embroiled with one such gangster when a favour is misconstrued.
Rachel forms a falteringly tenuous bond with Elena, Stepan and Zoya, Lucas's fixer with secrets and problems of her own to bear. This eclectic mix of people thrown together by circumstance, each surviving their own battles is such a compelling group to observe.
I also enjoyed watching Rachel develop as a mother, find her feet not only navigating the unknown lands of early parenthood but literally navigating the unknown land that is the Ukraine. I also was intrigued by the relationship between Lucas and Rachel, the stresses of parenthood and the move to a new country when one of the couple has already had the opportunity to be come acclimatised and find their feet, leaving the other person playing catch-up in the mystifying ways of a whole new culture.
Judith Henegen's writing is expertly evocative. I could really get a strong sense of what life in the Ukraine was like at that time. I even felt cold reading about the stark, bleak, bitter winter.
There is a very distinct and haunting sense of unease running throughout this book, which I love. I was constantly questioning every characters motives and behaviours. With an almost claustrophobic quality, Judith Heneghan's story telling skills are superb. She crafts a very compelling story which builds tension at a perfect pace.
Whilst this is a fascinating story of the people of Kiev, it's social landscape and events of the time, it is ultimately a portrait of a marriage and motherhood, which held me captivated.
I would thoroughly recommend this book. I very much enjoyed it.
Thank you to Salt Publishing for my review copy.
Being 13 floors up unnerves Rachel and she has a particular fear of going out onto the balcony which is just off the living room. She has visions of herself letting baby Ivan drop over the edge of balcony to his certain death. These images plague her and she has to comfort herself with various obsessive rituals in order to keep her anxiety levels manageable and most importantly to keep her baby safe. She has counting rituals, going over and over the same pages of words in the same book (Jurassic Park), she counts and neatly orders her diminishing supply of Pampers nappies for the baby, she counts groups of words and mutters the same phrases over and over. If she is unexpectedly deviated in some way from her rituals she becomes increasingly anxious. Going anywhere near the balcony is completely out of the question.
Rachel looks down, still bewildered by the sight of her white arms cradling her son with the small brown spot above his right ear that will one day be a mole, his eyelashes like tiny scratches and his pink, almost translucent nostrils. Earlier, in the living room, she had glimpsed Ivan falling. Such visions she knows, must be dismissed with a sharp shake of her head before they can fix themselves like premonitions, like memories, but Vee had been watching her so she hadn't moved. It's a long way down from the thirteenth floor. Five seconds, she thinks. Maybe six.....
Lucas is working long hours and has to quite often drop everything and chase a potential lead for a story. He is extremely ambitious and is desperate to prove that moving his wife and baby son over to the Ukraine has been worth it. He wants to make a name for himself as a good journalist and wants to be the one to discover the next big scoop. In doing this he does lots of networking and has already made a few friends to socialise and talk shop with before Rachel makes it to Kiev. Rachel has to infiltrate his world or end up isolated on the periphery. At first it is just herself and the baby, left to their own devices a lot. She walks the streets with Ivan in his pram, garnering disapproving looks from the old women, who seem to be disappointed that she has brought a new baby from a land of plenty to a place where fresh produce and many items besides are in short supply. One such woman is the caretaker (or dezhornaya) of Lucas and Rachel's building Elena Vasilyevna, a woman who Rachel is initially very dubious of with her disapproving looks and taciturn demeanour. A young boy Stepan who lives in the apartment above Rachel and Lucas also becomes involved in the narrative. A boy who sees things from the periphery and has allegiances of his own.
Stepan's job is to hold each jar steady while Elena stands on a stool and ladles in the soft purple heads. When the lids are secured and the jars are wiped clean she will store them beneath the stairs with the bottled pears and tomatoes, the trays of chitting potatoes and the onion seeds in their twists of yellowed newspaper. If he likes, decides Elena, he could help her in the spring. She could start him on some digging.
Stepan screws up his face as the steam rises in vinegary clouds. He'll want payment, that's obvious, and he has a taste for preserved cherries so for now she will give him half a jar. Elena knows about hunger. She knows how starved limbs swell, how skin becomes shiny, almost see-through, before it splits open and the body's fluids leak out. Famine eats you from the inside. When winter comes, hold on to what you've got.
Life is hard in the Ukraine and the only way to procure certain items, for example white goods, seems to be via underground rackateers and 'fixers'. Rachel becomes inadvertently embroiled with one such gangster when a favour is misconstrued.
Rachel forms a falteringly tenuous bond with Elena, Stepan and Zoya, Lucas's fixer with secrets and problems of her own to bear. This eclectic mix of people thrown together by circumstance, each surviving their own battles is such a compelling group to observe.
I also enjoyed watching Rachel develop as a mother, find her feet not only navigating the unknown lands of early parenthood but literally navigating the unknown land that is the Ukraine. I also was intrigued by the relationship between Lucas and Rachel, the stresses of parenthood and the move to a new country when one of the couple has already had the opportunity to be come acclimatised and find their feet, leaving the other person playing catch-up in the mystifying ways of a whole new culture.
Judith Henegen's writing is expertly evocative. I could really get a strong sense of what life in the Ukraine was like at that time. I even felt cold reading about the stark, bleak, bitter winter.
There is a very distinct and haunting sense of unease running throughout this book, which I love. I was constantly questioning every characters motives and behaviours. With an almost claustrophobic quality, Judith Heneghan's story telling skills are superb. She crafts a very compelling story which builds tension at a perfect pace.
Whilst this is a fascinating story of the people of Kiev, it's social landscape and events of the time, it is ultimately a portrait of a marriage and motherhood, which held me captivated.
I would thoroughly recommend this book. I very much enjoyed it.
Thank you to Salt Publishing for my review copy.
June 28, 2019
This book was a gift from a colleague for no reason other than she thought I would enjoy it as I've visited Kyiv many times in the last 5 years. I'm happy to report I loved this book. There were many laugh out loud moments in recognition of behaviours I have experienced. The belief that if your child is without hat, mittens, socks in May, they are going to freeze and there is no hesitation in telling you. Although this story is set in the 90s , many things are still the same, big cars with blacked out windows, pot holes big enough to swim in, the flats with their balconies. What Judith Heneghan also shows through Rachel, a complicated and anxious character, is that you can live somewhere and see things, interactions and yet have no understanding of what you are seeing, because you don't share the history, the cultural upbringing. This was a joy to read for me.
March 7, 2021
I really enjoyed this - the sense of place is terrific and I became really involved with the characters and their lives.
The author also captures new motherhood really well - difficult enough at the best of times, let alone when uprooted to a different country where you don't speak the language.
I thought the author was very subtle in her depiction of relationships .
The blurb says "there are many ways to be a mother" and that is explored but what was also really interesting was that there are also many ways to tell a story, "the past ... holds many stories".
A terrific lockdown read.
The author also captures new motherhood really well - difficult enough at the best of times, let alone when uprooted to a different country where you don't speak the language.
I thought the author was very subtle in her depiction of relationships .
The blurb says "there are many ways to be a mother" and that is explored but what was also really interesting was that there are also many ways to tell a story, "the past ... holds many stories".
A terrific lockdown read.
July 24, 2021
This is an odd book. It’s not so much the story as the descriptions and atmosphere that make it a good read for me- the story feels almost secondary. I enjoyed it, and the descriptions of Kiev in 1992 were very interesting and evocative. Recommend but only to people who aren’t going to get hung up on the fact that not a whole lot “happens” (externally, anyway).
June 30, 2019
Tense and claustrophobic and an excellent portrayal of life in Kiev in the 1990s for a young British wife, forced to adapt to both motherhood and Ukranian ways in a newly-independent country. Highly recommended - the writing is excellent and I felt as if I lived there with Rachel.
January 11, 2020
How lovely to discover that rare beast - a totally immersive read. Set in Kiev in the Ukraine of the early 1990s, with a young mother the main character - which is also a delicious treat. Highly recommended.
May 1, 2020
A seamless narrative that flows through the cold streets of Ukraine, rich in culture and history.
It got me out of a lockdown reading slump.
Read my complete review here.
https://onerightword.blogspot.com/202...
It got me out of a lockdown reading slump.
Read my complete review here.
https://onerightword.blogspot.com/202...
January 4, 2023
Few writers today write about anxiety-related or post-anxiety thoughts and feelings so honestly, openly, and aesthetically beautiful as sensitive writer Judith Heneghan does in "Snegurochka".
April 9, 2021
What's it about?
A new mother wrestles with her mental health in Independent Ukraine, trying to negotiate her way around a country she doesn't understand which operates in a language she doesn't speak.
What is it?
A claustrophobic account of new motherhood. A closely observed portrayal of the expat experience.
What isn't it?
A book to immerse you in a foreign place and time. The setting is lightly worn, and the story keeps the focus on Rachel.
Why do you recommend it?
Because I loved the writing. Because I loved the setting (and would have liked to see more of it!). Because it's set in Ukraine and I am biased.
A new mother wrestles with her mental health in Independent Ukraine, trying to negotiate her way around a country she doesn't understand which operates in a language she doesn't speak.
What is it?
A claustrophobic account of new motherhood. A closely observed portrayal of the expat experience.
What isn't it?
A book to immerse you in a foreign place and time. The setting is lightly worn, and the story keeps the focus on Rachel.
Why do you recommend it?
Because I loved the writing. Because I loved the setting (and would have liked to see more of it!). Because it's set in Ukraine and I am biased.
February 26, 2022
An unassuming, compelling, refreshing and brilliant piece of storytelling about human being, motherhood, and hidden lives. Judith Heneghan builds a story around Rachel, a woman newly arrived with a husband and new baby in Kiev in 1992. We glimpse a city emerging from political change and nuclear disaster as Rachel uncovers its workings and its people. We, as she, can only glimpse at the complex lives of the characters she meets as she grapples with her own mental health, she can only get a snapshot of the life of a city that is like a mysterious, compelling but potentially dangerous stranger. The author’s sense of place and time is perfection, and I was immediately taken back by her mention of egg slicers and angel delight! This novel was just the tip of the iceberg for Rachel, Lucas, Elena Zoya, Stepan and Mykola and it left me, like life, wondering, pondering and curious.
July 17, 2019
Great book, fairly short but creates some very memorable and real characters. Fascinating window into Ukraine after the collapse of the USSR, with a well-crafted sense of place and time that frames the book's exploration of motherhood. There's a palpable sense of threat and isolation, but also beautiful and redemptive bits of human connection. Gripping, sometimes gut-wrenching. Ultimately this is a book about women, and I found that really valuable as a male reader. On the whole, highly recommended.
December 6, 2022
This is my second reading of Snegurochka and I liked it even more than the first time so I'm bumping it up a star rating. The novel is a chilling, claustrophobic look at 90s Ukraine from the outsider's perspective of British expat Rachel. Rachel tries to keep herself and her baby safe from threats real and imagined, counting lampposts, pages, and never knowing who around her can truly be trusted.
April 2, 2024
A hugely relevant and gripping read from start to finish.
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