Ivan and Phoebe

An epic novel of one man's life changed forever--and then not at all--set in 1990's Ukraine. Ivan and Phoebe chronicles the lives of several young people involved in the Revolution on the Granite in 1990. The story is set in Uzhgorod, Kyiv and Lviv. As the characters come to exercise their rights to free speech and protest, something that their upbringing absolutely had not prepared them to do, they must also re-evaluate the norms of marriage, family, and home life. While these initially appear to be spaces of peace and harmony, they are soon revealed to be hotbeds of conflict and multigenerational trauma. While Ivan tells the story, Phoebe's voice rings through the text as she divulges her own traumas through poetic monologues. Lutsysyna's poetic form allows her to experiment with characterization and genre, creating her own category. Through her characters' vivid voices, Lutsysyna creates a his- and herstory of Ukraine; a panoramic view of post-Soviet society and family life through social, political, and economic crises.