Voroshilovgrad

Hera, a young man with a chaotic life, returns to his small hometown, a village in Luhansk Oblast (Luhansk was called Voroshilovgrad during Soviet times, during the main character's youth), to save his brother's business, and immediately faces a whole host of problems with criminals, officials, and former friends.

Serhiy Zhadan perfectly depicted the state not only of Ukraine but of the entire post-Soviet space — an atmosphere of confusion and discomfort, a complete misunderstanding of what tomorrow will bring, yet a desperate acceptance of what is here and now. The novel is imbued with the spirit of true friendship, lyrical memories, and strange interweavings of the past and reality.

The novel "Voroshilovgrad" is a laureate of the prestigious Central European Angelus Award.