“Philipovna: Daughter of Sorrow,” by Valentina Gal. Toronto: MiroLand Publications, 2019. 277 pp. ISBN: 978-1-77183-369-1 (paperback), $25.
The novel “Philipovna: Daughter of Sorrow” describes how, in the early 1930s, tactics of deliberate starvation and denial of basic rights were used to force the people of Ukraine to surrender to the Stalinist regime. The story is told through the eyes of a young girl who witnessed the brutal results of what has been called a “crime against humanity.” In carefully measured prose, Valentina Gal recreates the daily lives of those who suffered – and endured.
Valentina Gal, born in Hamilton, Ontario, is the daughter of Ukrainian immigrants and was born blind. She is a distinguished graduate of McMaster University.