Dear Book Clubs

If your book club picks Your Presence Is Mandatory for its monthly read, I’ve prepared discussion questions, Yefim & Nina’s Latke recipe, and a Recommended Reading list to help with your meeting.

I’m also happy to visit your book club virtually (or in person if you’re in the Bay Area).

Invite Sasha

Discussion questions

1. In the first scene, Nina reflects on her mortality—an idea that returns at the end of the novel. Why do you think the author chose to begin the story with this? What might death mean to Nina, who experienced so much death throughout her life?

2. Stalin famously called artillery the “god of modern warfare,” which was a source of pride for Yefim when first joining the army. To what extent does Yefim’s faith in “the cause” challenge or influence his Jewish identity? How does this change throughout the novel?

3. Yefim identifies with different names throughout the novel. In what ways does his name, all the variations of it, reflect his behaviors and beliefs throughout the novel?

4. Nina and Yefim’s “first loves”—and what was said and not said about these people—play a unique role in their relationship. How do Nina’s feelings for the Professor and Yefim’s feelings for Ilse differ from one another? In what ways do these relationships of the past affect their attitudes toward one another?

5. Once Yefim finds his mother, after the war, she reveals her own secret about his birth name. In what ways does this confession add to Yefim’s trauma? In what ways does the truth free him?

6. Shortly after they meet, Yefim seems to want to confide in Nina some of his experiences in the war: a confidence she quickly violates, sharing stories with their friends. Later, he’s rumored to be talking to Claudia about the war, which confirms her suspicions about an affair. In what ways are truth and intimacy tightly bound for Yefim?

7. After Yefim charmingly lies about Nina catching the fish, she wishes she were a better liar “because in their country it was usually honesty that got you into trouble.” Later, Yefim tells his son that lies are “how you preserve a family.” In what ways does their culture encourage dishonesty?

8. Vita hides her own small trauma from her father, while Andrey says that children shouldn’t know everything about their parents. How does Yefim’s secrecy influence his children’s relationship to openness and truth?

9. Yefim only confesses to his granddaughter, Masha, about his experience as a POW. What is significant about his decision to confide in her alone? What does it mean when he later thinks, “did he tell her anything at all.”

10. The “famine” in Ukraine is referred to throughout the novel, but it’s only toward the end that the author uses the more distinctive, historical name for this event, the “Holodomor.” Similarly, we learn about the “glasnost,” the Great Confession, as the USSR comes to terms with its past. What is significant about the shifts in perspective? How does this shape our views of the contemporary conflict in Ukraine?

Yefim & Nina's Potato Latkes

Ingredients:

8-10 medium potatoes, peeled
1 small onion, peeled
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp white vinegar
2 tbsp flour
Oil for frying (olive or sunflower)

Directions:

Shred the potatoes on a medium grate. Add the onion shredded on a small grate. Squeeze the mixture and pour out the liquid. Add the eggs and flour. Pour vinegar over soda and add to the mixture. Heat the pan with oil on medium-high heat and fry large spoonfuls of batter until golden brown on both sides. Serve with sour cream, or a mixture of sour cream, minced garlic and chopped dill. Pairs well with a tomato, cucumber, onion salad.

Dear Book Clubs

Discussion questions

Yefim & Nina's Potato Latkes

Recommended reading