Under This Unbroken Sky

By by Shandi Mitchell (£12.99, Weidenfeld & Nicolson)  on Wednesday 29 July 2009

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A bold and brutal study of love, betrayal and loyalty

Shandi Mitchell's debut is not the cheeriest of reads — from the opening pages there's a palpable feeling of menace and unease – but it is utterly gripping. Epic in scope, this tale of family feuds, violence and hardship follows the fortunes of Theo Mykolayenko, a Ukrainian survivor of Stalin's labour camps who starts a new life in the harsh Canadian Prairies. His mettle is tested to the limit by the land and his neighbours' hostilities, but eventually his fields are golden with corn and his family start to thrive. That is, until the return of his sister's malevolent, drunken husband, whose merciless greed threatens to undermine everything Theo has so resolutely worked for. Beautifully pitched and unsentimental in execution. Brilliant.

Review by by Shandi Mitchell (£12.99, Weidenfeld & Nicolson)

Release date: Wednesday 29 July 2009

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