Nov. 19, 2025, 8:35 p.m.
Yevhenia Genova 's new book, My Grandmothers Did Not Live to See the War, was presented to Odesa residents at the Hrushevsky Library on November 19.
In October, the book was published by the Nika Center publishing house.
Yevheniia Henova's story consists of family memories and is dedicated to the formation of national identity in the families of residents of the Ukrainian South.
A characteristic feature of the book is the parallels with the heroine's own experiences during the current Russian aggression and the comparison of them with the events that her relatives experienced in the past.
"The book consists of short essays that were written during the fall of 2023. Some of them are memories of my family, some are reflections on what happened to my ancestors, and some are about why we so often look to our family past for support and strength now, when we are being tested for strength and honesty. I think that much of what I have written will resonate with those who now feel a special connection with their family memories, who have begun to search for information about their ancestors in archives and church books, who are asking older relatives and trying to connect their family's past with the present and future. I think it's about family and historical identity, which gives us strength now and shows us who we are and why we will definitely survive," the author told Int.
In her mind, the lyrical heroine is constantly communicating with her ancestors, stringing their memories of the First and Second World Wars, the Holodomor, repression, and other trials with her subjective experiences of current events. The book shows that identity is not something abstract, but a concrete experience transmitted through memory, stories, everyday life, language, culture, and even silence, which hides the pain of the past.
In March 2025, Vivat Publishing House published the book Free Voices of Crimea. Stories of Crimean Journalists - Prisoners of the Kremlin was published by Vivat, co-authored by Yevhenia Henova.
And in January, the Kharkiv publishing house Folio presented to the world Yevhenia Genova's book Crimean Tatar Families, in which the media personality collected stories of 14 families. According to the journalist, one of the working titles of the book was Qırımda yaşa - "Live in Crimea".
Кирило Бойко