The Sky Unwashed by Irene Zabytko

I was scrolling through Amazon a few months ago and discovered The Sky Unwashed (2000) by Irene Zabytko.  I had never heard of the author but the plot and the atmospheric cover drew me in and I knew this was a novel that I would be reading.

The Sky Unwashed is set in 1986 in the rural Ukranian village of Starylis.  For generations the residents of Starylis made their living through farming.  The older residents keep the traditions and customs.  In comparison many of the younger people scoff at the traditions of their parents and grandparents.  They want a  more modern life and to be able to afford nice clothes and new appliances.

Life in Starylis is not that different from other rural villages across Ukraine with one historically tragic exception.  Starylis is just down the road from the nuclear power plant at Chernobyl where many of the residents of Starylis report to work. 

The Sky Unwashed begins at a wedding celebration which everyone in the village is attending.  Marusia Petrenko bakes her famous wedding bread for the occasion and is very pleased at the compliments she is getting.  Marusia who is in her 70's is a sweet person and at the reception there is drinking and dancing.  And then Marusia's son Yurko and some of the other men at the party leave to work their nightshift jobs at the Chernobyl plant and as the Amazon blurb tells us:

"In the morning, the air has a strange metallic taste. The cat is oddly listless. The priest doesn't show up for services. Yurko doesn't come home from work. Nobody know what's happened (and they won't for many days), but things have changed for the Petrenkos-forever"

The majority of The Sky Unwashed takes place a year later when Marusia decides after all she has been through to move back to her home in Starylis.  It's a sealed off area, closed to the public.  But Marusia decides that if she is going to die anywhere it will be in her home.  And this is based on a true story of grandmothers ("The Babushkas of Chernobyl") who returned to their homes, tried to plant new gardens and would not listen to the authorities when ordered to leave.

The Sky Unwashed is moving, funny at times and sad.  But despite the sadness I am glad I read this novel.  Irene Zabytko has a nice writing style and Marusia is an inspiring character.