Hot Off the Shelf: I Will Die In a Foreign Land by Kalani Pickhart
[image description: The book cover for I Will Die in a Foreign Land by Kalani Pickhart. The background is a painting of a snowy landscape with a large lamb crying over a dead baby lamb while ravens circle.]
Disclaimer: I received a free advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review and I honestly LOVED it.
This is a no-spoiler review, so you can read on confidently.
I haven’t often thought about what it would be like to be on the committees that give book awards, but I’d sure like to be a part of the decision-making process for the Pulitzer or the National Book Award right now. If I had any say in it, I Will Die in a Foreign Land by Kalani Pickhart would win.
I don’t say that lightly. I’ve been reviewing books on here since 2014 and I’m pretty sure this is the first time I’ve said anything like that. Before I explain why I feel so strongly, I should tell you what the book is about.
Synopsis:
In 1913, a Russian ballet incited a riot in Paris at the new Théâtre de Champs-Elysées. “Only a Russian could do that," says Aleksandr Ivanovich. “Only a Russian could make the whole world go mad.”
A century later, in November 2013, thousands of Ukrainian citizens gathered at Independence Square in Kyiv to protest then-President Yanukovych’s failure to sign a referendum with the European Union, opting instead to forge a closer alliance with President Vladimir Putin and Russia. The peaceful protests turned violent when military police shot live ammunition into the crowd, killing over a hundred civilians.
I Will Die in a Foreign Land follows four individuals over the course of a volatile Ukrainian winter, as their lives are forever changed by the Euromaidan protests. Katya is an Ukrainian-American doctor stationed at a makeshift medical clinic in St. Michael’s Monastery; Misha is an engineer originally from Pripyat, who has lived in Kyiv since his wife’s death from radiation sickness; Slava is a fiery young activist whose past hardships steel her determination in the face of persecution; and Aleksandr Ivanovich, a former KGB agent who climbs atop a burned-out police bus at Independence Square and plays the piano.
As Katya, Misha, Slava, and Aleksandr’s lives become intertwined, they each seek their own solace during an especially tumultuous and violent period. The story is also told by a chorus of voices that incorporates folklore and narrates a turbulent Slavic history.
While unfolding an especially moving story of quiet beauty and love in a time of terror, I Will Die in a Foreign Land is an ambitious, intimate, and haunting portrait of human perseverance and empathy.
As you can probably tell, there’s a lot going on here but all of it is so good! And by “good” I mean specifically the writing. The events that take place in the book are devastating, but Pickhart writes about the brutality of the world and the hardship inherent in fighting for justice with such gripping compassion. And when you reach the moment where all the characters’ lives become interconnected and you realize what the connection point is, you’re going to cry a little. I literally gasped and slammed my palm to my chest from the force of how compelling the story was, especially in that moment.
The narrative is rendered beautifully––yes, there’s powerfully written prose but the structure does a lot of heavy lifting as well. The chapters are short and switch between the perspectives of the four protagonists. Interspersed between those are news clips, song lyrics, quotes, and meditations on the interconnectivity of protest, war, demonstration, art, healing, birth, death, and the general carrying on with life amid such strife and struggle.
One of my favorite aspects of the novel is the contrast between suicide and fighting to the death to save one’s child and relationship. (By the way, content warning in the novel: suicide!) The exploration of love and its many complicated facets is the driving force of I Will Die In a Foreign Land. The inciting incident is the protest and the desire for human rights and dignity inherent in that action, but I’d argue the real gem of the story is love. This may sound trite, but it’s not––at least not in Pickhart’s deft writerly hands.
I’ll also admit that one of the reasons I enjoyed this novel so much is that I actually didn’t know anything about the Euromaidan protests. Having occurred in late 2013 and early 2014, it’s fairly recent history, so I’m a little embarrassed that it escaped my consciousness. (Those were weird and hectic years for me, so I guess I shouldn’t be entirely surprised.) Reading I Will Die In a Foreign Land made me want to pay more attention to world news (which you’d think wouldn’t be a problem since Mr. Off the Beaten Shelf and I have subscriptions to like 8 newspapers and magazines, but here we are).
I will admit, too, that I feel like I’m stumbling through this review because I’m still processing my feelings about the novel, which is a good sign. I’m going to be thinking about I Will Die In a Foreign Land for a long time because the story is truly unforgettable. When you read 100+ books a year (and occasionally 150+ and 170+) like I do, you really take stock of the stories that stick out in your memory. I already know this will be one I’ll be contemplating for quite some time and I’m already looking forward to reading it again in the near future.
I Will Die In a Foreign Land by Kalani Pickhart was just released by my favorite indie publisher, Two Dollar Radio, and you can buy yourself a copy from their website or your favorite indie bookstore.
