No Country for Love

“Doctor Zhivago meets Stalingrad -- a mix of romantic historical fiction and gritty, reportage-like storytelling... The story across decades of impossible love, war and survival rings painfully and beatifully true... Unforgettable."

"A novel that is divinely written."

“The grand novel of Ukraine's martyrdom. A history of the resilience of the human spirit when it's confronted by totalitarianism and barbarity. Trofimov explores the cynicism of some, the mediocrity of others, the surrenders and betrayals of many. He hides nothing about the cruelty of those who have no other choice but to battle for their own survival. But he also shows that brotherhood and love, even if they don't weigh much against the worst atrocities, are worth living for. "

“More than a historic novel because what it tells us about yesterday is a lesson for today."

"An unflinching look at the cost of survival in terrible circumstances, which has echoes in modern-day Ukraine." 

“The novel, which tells the story of Debora, a young Jewish woman in Stalinist Ukraine, often reads -- in the best sense -- like reportage: it's a well-researched story brought to life by a skilled correspondent who not only has clearly seen his share of world conflicts but also understands what the drive to survive does to the human psyche."

"Compelling and unsentimental... Above all, it's a love letter to Ukraine and its people's resilience."

“Journalistic precision translates effortlessly into fiction, with each chapter unfolding like a meticulously crafted dispatch, devoid of any superfluous elements."

“At a time when many people are scrambling to understand Ukraine, No Country for Love gives us the story of the country's painful twentieth century as a sweeping romantic epic. It links the personal and the political in a way that cuts through wartime propaganda, restoring both human scale and moral complexity.”

“Yaroslav Trofimov delivers a literary epic taking place on the "bloodlands" -- to borrow the title from Timothy Snyder's book -- scarred by the Nazi and Stalinist atrocities. It is an expansive novel reminiscent of the literary breath, the humanity, and the historical density found in Vassili Grossman's Life and Fate.”

"Tough, lean, and unsentimental, No Country for Love is a powerful moral testament that reads like a thriller, as its impressive heroine learns to do what is necessary, day by day, in order to endure one of the most harrowing passages of the 20th century. It is also an unsparing account of the tribulations of ordinary Ukrainians, from the Holomodor, through the horrors of World War II, to the death of Stalin. By turns terrifying, tender, and inspiring, this gripping and necessary novel illuminates the origins of a story whose latest chapters are being played out before the world even today."

"A captivating sweep of a novel about love, resilience and impossible choices in a Ukraine caught between Soviets and Nazism and riven by war - I loved it!"

“A beautiful, important and timely rendering of Jewish life in Ukraine through the travails of the 20th century. Both historical and page-turning.”

"A chilling account of what it means to live under a totalitarian regime. With the sharp pen of an award-winning journalist and the tender heart of a poet, Yaroslav Trofimov has woven an exquisite and enduring tale of survival, courage, and resistance. Epic yet intimate, heart-breaking yet hopeful, terrifying yet inspiring, No Country for Love is a love letter to Ukraine and a gift to anyone who appreciates peace."

“A family saga like no other... Fast-paced and rich in historical detail, 'No Country for Love' vividly portrays its era."

“Trofimov depicts the relentless assertion of humanity in the most inhumane of circumstances... It's a virtue of this novel that the reader can drop the historical analogies and immerse in each moment."

“Compulsively readable, invaluably informative and insightful, and often powerfully moving."

“In a fresco that that recounts more than twenty years of history, we see through the eyes of the heroine the terror of the purges, the fall of Kyiv to the Nazis, the battle of Stalingrad and the the destruction of the countryside in the famine of Holodomor, a narrative that is heavy and tragic, and that is unsparing to the heroine and to the reader alike."

“An engaging historical epic that paints a ruthless portrait of Ukraine under Soviet rule, during the two darkest decades of the country's history."

“Weaves together the big-picture and the intimate stories, love, war and ideology in a powerful and truly inspired narrative that will certainly allow us to understand — as we follow the unpredictable journey of Debora and her family — the struggles of a suffering nation that, even today, is forced to fight until the brink of exhaustion for its freedom."

“Debora discovers what the future of progress and freedom depicted in Soviet propaganda really means, between injustice, arrests, blackmail, threats, disappointments, violence and the never-ending lie in which she, and everyone else, is forced to live."

“The debut novel of a natural-born storyteller... Echoes what Ukraine is living through since the Russian invasion."

“A beautiful historical novel."

"A story that echoes in the war conducted by Russia in Ukraine."