In 1929, Katya is 16 years old, surrounded by family and in love with the boy next door. When Stalin's activists arrive in her village, it's just a few, a little pressure to join the collective. But soon neighbors disappear, those who speak out are never seen again and every new day is uncertain. Resistance has a price, and as desperate hunger grips the countryside, survival seems more a dream than a possibility. But, even in the darkest times, love beckons. Seventy years later, a young widow discovers her grandmother's journal, one that will reveal the long-buried secrets of her family's haunted past. "Emotionally riveting and honest . . . simultaneously shines an unflinching light on historical atrocities while it celebrates the resilience of the human spirit. You won't soon forget this stunning debut." "Breathtaking. Devastating. Erin Litteken's chronicles a defining but forgotten moment of Ukrainian history."