Spanning sixty tumultuous years of Ukrainian history, this multigenerational saga weaves a dramatic and intricate web of love, sex, friendship, and death. At its center: three women linked by the abandoned secrets of the past—secrets that refuse to remain hidden.
While researching a story, journalist Daryna unearths a worn photograph of Olena Dovgan, a member of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army killed in 1947 by Stalin’s secret police. Intrigued, Daryna sets out to make a documentary about the extraordinary woman—and unwittingly opens a door to the past that will change the course of the future. For even as she delves into the secrets of Olena’s life, Daryna grapples with the suspicious death of a painter who just may be the latest victim of a corrupt political power play.
From the dim days of World War II to the eve of Orange Revolution, The Museum of Abandoned Secrets is an “epic of enlightening force” that explores the enduring power of the dead over the living.
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"A great book. And definitely worth your time."
— Maria (5 out of 5 stars)
" Very rare for me to give up on a book, but this was just too long and turgid. it was very easy to lose track of what on earth was supposed to be going on. "
— Sue, 1/31/2013Oksana Zabuzhko was born in 1960 in Ukraine. She graduated from the department of philosophy of Kyiv Shevchenko University, obtained her PhD in philosophy of arts, and has spent some time in the USA lecturing as a Fulbright Fellow and a Writer-in-Residence at Penn State University, Harvard University, and University of Pittsburgh. She has authored seventeen books of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, which have been translated into fifteen languages. Among her numerous acknowledgments are the Global Commitment Foundation Poetry Prize, a MacArthur Grant, the Antonovych International Foundation Prize, the Ukrainian National Award, the Order of Princess Olha, and many other national awards.
Mary Robinette Kowal is a Nebula and Hugo Award-winning author, professional puppeteer, and former President of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (2019–2021). In 2008 she won the Astounding Award for Best New Writer and her debut novel, Shades of Milk and Honey, was nominated for the 2010 Nebula Award for Best Novel. In 2019, the first book in the Lady Astronaut series, The Calculating Stars, won the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards, becoming one of only eighteen novels ever to do so. She lives in Nashville with her husband Rob and over a dozen manual typewriters. Sometimes she even writes on them.