A wonderfully simple short book introducing readers to the beauty of growing up in Ukraine and the intricacies of the culture. I loved the touching description of the author's relationship with her Grandmother and the description of numbness and helplessness when the 2022 war broke out.

I won't say I enjoyed the book as the subject is tough, but I was hooked and I definitely wanted to know more. Thank you Katya for sharing your world with us

You Will Feel it in the Price of Bread
A Love Letter to Ukraine
by Katya Hudson
Pub Date 23 Feb 2023
Muswell Press
Biographies & Memoirs | Nonfiction (Adult) | Politics


I am reviewing a copy of You Will Feel it in the Price of Bread through Muswell Press and Netgalley:


You Will Feel it in the Price if Bread is a diary of memories. A record of the turbulence of the last couple of years in the Ukraine as well as a prayer of hope for the future.


This powerful and beautifully written memoir, full of heart, is Katya Hudson's memoir of home and heart, despite the turbulence of these times. It speaks of the love of home, but also of the reality of war.


I give You Will Feel it in the Price of Bread five out of five stars!


Happy Reading!

This short albeit very personal memoir which Hudson describes as a love letter to Ukraine was her University project. Her childhood was heavenly albeit rustic. All this dramatically changed when Russia invaded Ukraine. Ukrainians daily lives were sorely affected by the war. Russia in one calamitous move had turned her life and the lives of all Ukrainians upside down. The headlines failed to portray the reality of the full impact of this war particularly on the lives of ordinary Ukrainians. Hudson felt this strongly and was not afraid to voice her emotions.

This evocative read moved me to tears on more than one occasion largely because she holds nothing back. She also does not bother dressing up her childhood to be anything other than the ordinary. But how she loved them. I could almost hear the wistfulness in her voice in her word sketches of her daily life with her Babushka (gran) and other family members. This is how Ukrainians largely lived. What might seem mundane or monotonous to Western society is the backbone of Ukrainian culture, its very essence. All this was interrupted by the war and could likely be destroyed, for what? as Hudson points out. These were poignant moments as she generously gives us an insight into her pastoral childhood.

As the war continues Hudson is thrown into despair. Her patriotism and love for her motherland Ukraine rings out strong and clear. I empathise with her as I do with all Ukrainians. I too start understanding their despair and feelings of hopelessness. They had successfully stood up to Russian despotism before. They had not expected them to attack them again.

More poignant moments as Hudson reveals how the war has torn apart Ukrainian society. She has realised how much she has taken her idyllic albeit rustic life in Ukraine with her Babushka and family for granted. And life may never seem the same again. And then there is all the heartache, anxiety and her fears for the safety of her family and friends as she desperately tries to raise funds to support Ukraine. Her honesty is almost my undoing. She raises some very relevant questions and as I read her memoir I can’t help but have a one to one with myself. There is humour too as Hudson reminisces, for the Ukrainians laughed a lot, at their Russian neighbours of course.

Despite the book being written in a folksy style, as English may not be Hudson’s first language, it only added to its depth of emotion. The photos and collage added substance to her tale. I found her book very illuminating and it’s one of those memoirs everyone should read at least once. Quite the immersive read. Thank you Katya for sharing your intimate memories with us.

Bravo Katya Hudson! Chin up, Ukraine is not dead yet.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a free copy of this title for review.

3.5 stars rounded up. This is very much a stream of consciousness book, punctuated with text from instagram posts and pictures of texts and other forms of social media communication. For those who aren’t used to these mediums while reading a book, I can understand it would be jarring. However, these are a historian’s primary source bread and butter so I expect to see more of these additions in books like this going forward.

Speaking of history, there was an error when the Holodomor was mentioned. Katya called it a “Lenin induced hunger” when it should be a Stalin induced hunger. By the time of the Holodomor, Lenin had been dead for about 9 years. There was, however, a separate famine in 1921-1922 (The Povolzhye Famine) and that was under Lenin and struck all of the USSR, not just Ukraine. (Side note: American Aid was eventually accepted and none other than Herbert Hoover of Great Depression infamy oversaw the ARA who provided the aid). If Katya is referring to the Holodomor -which I think she is - this should be corrected.

It was very eye opening to read the POV of a Ukrainian unintended ex-pat in response to how the world responded those first few weeks and months of the invasion. Katya’s pride of being Ukrainian shone through in spades.