Stone — A Historical Novel about Soviet Ukraine and the USSR (1920s–1940s)

  The Cook Stone — Book One: First Steps Toward the Light and Back  — Chapter 7   by Volodymyr Shablia March 1924. The village of Tomakivka. Barely awake, Peter opened his eyes and realized that something interesting was going on in the kitchen. His nose immediately caught some wonderfully appetizing smells—and that could only mean one thing: Grandma was making something delicious. Without wasting a moment, the boy sprang out of bed, hastily pulled on his trousers and shirt, and dashed into the kitchen. “Grandma, what are you doing?” he blurted out from the doorway. “Good morning, my little grandson!” Iryna replied with a smile. She looked expectantly at the boy, as though waiting for him to return her greeting, while her flour-covered hands continued busily at work. “Good morning, Grandma!” Peter called out, not very loudly, and then returned to the question that mattered most to him: “What smells so good?” “It smells delicious—of vanilla and cinnamon,” the woman explain...

The Arrest   Stone — Book One: First Steps Toward the Light and Back  — Chapter 6   by Volodymyr Shablia August 1941. The village of Tomakivka.   Late on an August evening, an anxious, restless mood hung over the Shablia household: his parents were preparing Peter for his journey. “Your work assignment?” his father asked for what seemed like the hundredth time, briskly checking everything. “Your passport? Money? Your military registration certificate? It’s wartime now—they could mobilize you at any moment. You need to have all your documents with you.” Peter's work assignment. Peter checked his papers once again. Everything was in order. Meanwhile, his mother brought a bundle from the pantry. “Take some more pork fat, just in case. It may come in handy.” The woman looked at her son with a mixture of love, pity, and a strange sense of resignation. She held out the food wrapped in parchment paper, but could not hold back her tears. Then, realizing that he...

  The NKVD Problem Stone — Book One: First Steps Toward the Light and Back  — Chapter 5   by Volodymyr Shablia August 1941. The village of Tomakivka. The black NKVD van known as a “Black Raven,” belonging to the Zaporizhzhia Regional Directorate, had been searching for Soviet Street in the village of Tomakivka for nearly an hour, and still could not find it.   The village was not under the Directorate’s jurisdiction, and it was already close to eleven o’clock at night. After a sweltering day of hard work, most of the villagers were sleeping peacefully. Hardly anyone in the vast settlement even knew of the inconspicuous street, recently renamed “Soviet,” which looked more like a shabby lane than a proper street. NKVD officers beside the dreaded “Black Raven,” the vehicle that came to symbolize arrest, disappearance, and fear in Stalin’s Soviet Union. At least, of the dozen or so local residents the state security officers had managed to encounter in Tomakivka, not one...

  The Name — Peter Stone — Book One: First Steps Toward the Light and Back  — Chapter 2   by Volodymyr Shablia January 1920.  The village of Tomakivka , Ukraine . Danylo returned from work toward evening. His mother-in-law came out to meet him, a newborn in her arms. “Congratulations, Danylo! You’re a father. Mariia has given you a son. The boy was born prematurely, but he’s healthy. And Mariia seems to be feeling a little better, too.” Iryna handed the bundle to her son-in-law. The unexpected news left the new father stunned. A whirlwind of conflicting feelings, thoughts, and emotions swept through his mind: ‘A son, an heir! But premature?! And what about typhus? What if he gets sick? I’ve dreamed of having a son all my life! He’ll be Alexander—that’s my favorite name. Hurray!’ Danylo took his son into his arms. The moment he saw him, he fell in love with the beautiful little creature. Afraid of hurting him, yet unable to resist the temptation, the father ...

  A new personal essay has just been published on Medium. In "How Three Generations of My Family Nearly Disappeared from Memory," I share the true story behind the creation of my historical biographical novel Stone . The article is not about promoting a book. It is about something much more universal: how easily the memories of ordinary families can disappear forever, and why preserving them matters. If you enjoy family history, memoir, or historical storytelling, I hope you will find it meaningful. Read the full article on Medium.

Stories live only as long as someone remembers them. — Author’s Note Stone — Book One: First Steps Toward the Light and Back  — Author’s Preface by Volodymyr Shablia Three generations of the Shablia family I grew up a diligent and obedient boy. At home I was the firstborn, surrounded by love and care; in kindergarten, an easygoing but quick-witted child; at school a straight-A student with exemplary behavior. Quite naturally and almost imperceptibly, the notions of good and evil entered my young mind. Equally self-evident was the belief that good deeds are rewarded and wrongdoing is punished. These principles became the fundamental, unshakable rules of my life. And I genuinely liked living according to the rules taught to me by my elders. Of course, I loved my father and mother, my grandfather and grandmother, believing them to be the best people in the world. They loved and cared for me, and I loved them in return; this certainty came just as naturally. My relatives lived strictly...

  Volodymyr Shablia. Stone. Biographical novel.   Dedicated to the memory of my father ,  Petro Danylovych Shablia.   Photo from the archive investigation file of Peter Shablia Epigraph: “I am a people, forged in Truth’s own might, Still unconquered by the hand of war. Though plague and grief have struck me time and again, My strength renews and blooms as oft before.” — Pavlo Tychyna, “I Affirm Myself” Continue Exploring  Stone: Read  Stone  in English Explore the novel, quotations, and the author's biography on Goodreads Stone  by Volodymyr Shablia  on Facebook Read or download the complete books in Ukrainian: Stone  —  Book One: First Steps Toward the Light and Back Stone  —  Book Two:  Difficult Roads to Hell Stone  —  Book  Three :  Unrealized  E xpectations Stone  —  Book  Four :  The T urning Point