Behind Your Back (Harvard Library of Ukrainian Literature)

Mixing wry humor and riveting emotional depth, Behind Your Back paints a portrait of womanhood in war-torn Ukraine. The novel recounts the intimate journey of a heroine trying to reconcile freedom and societal expectations. In 2015, Marta finds herself confused and upset when her boyfriend Max is drafted to serve in the Ukrainian Army. She has a successful career in Lviv’s booming IT industry, and she and Max live a comfortable life distant from politics and war—until Max’s conscription. With Max hundreds of miles away, undergoing what seems like endless preliminary training, Marta tries hard to fit the model of a war hero’s girlfriend and to embrace the new patriotism that has become the norm in Ukraine. She volunteers for the Army, meeting other women whose partners are away fighting. Yet she resists social pressures and her resentment towards Max builds. Faced with impossible choices, Marta reaches a breaking point, and it sets off a series of events that force her to take a sober look at what it means to strive for freedom and happiness under conditions of war.