An unforgettable debut novel about the journey of three women and one extremely endangered snail through contemporary Ukraine
‘One of the leading post-Soviet writers of her generation’ The Nation
‘Open this book, fasten your seatbelt, and brace for impact’ Ben Fountain, author of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk
Ukraine, 2022. Yeva is a maverick scientist who scours the country’s forests and valleys, trying and failing to breed rare snails while her relatives urge her to settle down and start a family of her own. What they don’t know: Yeva already dates plenty of men-not for love, but to fund her work-entertaining Westerners who come to Ukraine on guided romance tours believing they’ll find docile brides untainted by feminism.
Nastia and her sister, Solomiya, are also entangled in the booming marriage industry, posing as a hopeful bride and her translator while secretly searching for their missing mother, who vanished after years of fierce activism against the romance tours.
So begins a journey of a lifetime across a country on the brink of war: three angry women, a truckful of kidnapped bachelors, and Lefty, a last-of-his-kind snail with one final shot at perpetuating his species.
Praise for GOOD CITIZENS NEED NOT FEAR:
‘Bright, funny, satirical and relevant. . . . A new talent to watch!’ MARGARET ATWOOD (via Twitter)
‘Bang-on brilliant’ MIRIAM TOEWS
‘Outstanding’ ANTHONY DOERR
‘One of the leading post-Soviet writers of her generation’ The Nation
‘Open this book, fasten your seatbelt, and brace for impact’ Ben Fountain, author of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk
Ukraine, 2022. Yeva is a maverick scientist who scours the country’s forests and valleys, trying and failing to breed rare snails while her relatives urge her to settle down and start a family of her own. What they don’t know: Yeva already dates plenty of men-not for love, but to fund her work-entertaining Westerners who come to Ukraine on guided romance tours believing they’ll find docile brides untainted by feminism.
Nastia and her sister, Solomiya, are also entangled in the booming marriage industry, posing as a hopeful bride and her translator while secretly searching for their missing mother, who vanished after years of fierce activism against the romance tours.
So begins a journey of a lifetime across a country on the brink of war: three angry women, a truckful of kidnapped bachelors, and Lefty, a last-of-his-kind snail with one final shot at perpetuating his species.
Praise for GOOD CITIZENS NEED NOT FEAR:
‘Bright, funny, satirical and relevant. . . . A new talent to watch!’ MARGARET ATWOOD (via Twitter)
‘Bang-on brilliant’ MIRIAM TOEWS
‘Outstanding’ ANTHONY DOERR
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Reviews
Maria Reva's dazzling debut novel Endling will take you on a ride you will never forget. Into this brilliant stew of a novel the fearless Reva stirs Ukraine's notorious "romance tour" industry, feminist activists, a kidnapping caper, the fine science of snail conservation, the eternal mysteries of family dynamics and Europe's first major land war since World War II. Only a supremely talented writer could handle material like this, and Reva--who seems incapable of writing a dud sentence--shows she's more than up to the task. Open this book, fasten your seatbelt, and brace for impact