your presence is MANDATORY
Your Presence Is Mandatory is a riveting debut novel, based on real events, that tells the story of a Ukrainian Jewish World War II veteran with a dangerous lifelong secret, the repercussions for his family, and the grace they find in the course of their survival. It is longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and became an instant bestseller in Italy.
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A clear-eyed portrayal of how borders move through us, and how surviving war entails enduring many deaths, large and small, within the self. — ESQUIRE
Wonderfully written, elegiac and necessary, Sasha Vasilyuk uncovers the history behind the recent headlines with great skill and grace. — Gary Shteyngart
more about Your presence is mandatory
Ukraine, 2007. Yefim Shulman, husband, grandfather and war veteran, was beloved by his family and his coworkers. But in the days after his death, his widow Nina finds a letter to the KGB in his briefcase. Yefim had a lifelong secret, and his confession forces them to reassess the man they thought they knew and the country he had defended.
In 1941, Yefim is a young artillerist on the border between Soviet Union and Germany, eager to defend his country and his large Jewish family against Hitler’s forces. But surviving the war requires sacrifices Yefim never imagined—and even when the war ends, his fight isn’t over. He must conceal his choices from the KGB and from his family. Spanning seven decades between World War II and the current Russia-Ukraine conflict, Your Presence Is Mandatory traces the effect Yefim’s coverup had on the lives of Nina, their two children and grandchildren.
From Germany's prison camps and forced labor system to the Soviet culture of pride and paranoia, Sasha Vasilyuk shines a light on one family caught between two totalitarian regimes, and the grace they find in the course of their survival.
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about me
I am a journalist and author who grew up between Ukraine and Russia before immigrating to San Francisco at the age of 13. I graduated from UC Berkeley and got a MA in Journalism from New York University. I’ve written about Eastern Europe for the New York Times, CNN, Harper’s Bazaar, Los Angeles Times, Time, the Telegraph, USA Today, KQED, and elsewhere. Your Presence Is Mandatory is my debut novel. I live in San Francisco with my husband and children.