Lisa Weeda

The novel describes a family saga spanning a century of Ukrainian history. The writer with Ukrainian roots travels to Luhansk to search for the grave of her uncle Kolya, who went missing in 2015. On her escape from the war zone, she suddenly finds herself in the past and brings to light the history of her family of Don Cossacks. Aleksandra is a story of a family between East and West, unable to break away from a land that will perhaps never find peace.

Published by Garamond, 2022

Lisa Weeda (*1989) is a Dutch-Ukrainian writer, literary programme maker, screenwriter, virtual reality director, and, according to the Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant, the literary talent of 2022. The basis of her work is always text, but the form is varied. Usually, the focus is on Ukraine, her grandmother’s native country. Aleksandra (2021) is her debut novel.