Lucky Breaks

Lucky Breaks (Щасливі падіння) is a 2018 short story collection by Ukrainian writer and photographer Yevgenia Belorusets. The book depicts the lives of women whose everyday routines are disrupted by the war in eastern Ukraine.[1][2] In 2022, it was translated from Russian into English by Eugene Ostashevsky, and published by Pushkin Press.[3][4]

Reception

In a review for The Guardian, Marcel Theroux praised "these stories, the sharpness and clarity of their observations, their dark humour, and the glimpses they give of an unfamiliar world". However, he felt that some parts of the book had become outdated due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[1] The Straits Times gave the book a four star rating, calling it a "haunting, evocative collection".[5] A review in the Los Angeles Review of Books noted how the book depicted gender-based violence as commonplace and noramlised.[6][7][8]

Awards

The English version of the book was shortlisted for the Oxford–Weidenfeld Translation Prize in 2023.[3] The German translation of the book won the International Literature Award in 2020.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 Theroux, Marcel (2022-06-03). "Lucky Breaks by Yevgenia Belorusets review – war stories from Ukraine". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-11-29.
  2. ↑ Wilson, Jennifer (2022-03-29). "The Scars of Ukraine's War, Illuminated in Fiction". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-06-10.
  3. 1 2 "The Oxford–Weidenfeld Translation Prize – 2023 shortlist". St Anne's College, University of Oxford. University of Oxford. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
  4. ↑ "Lucky Breaks / Щасливі падіння - Yevgenia Belorusets — Website". belorusets.com. Retrieved 2026-06-10.
  5. ↑ Toh, Wen Li (28 May 2022). "Book review: Lucky Breaks tells the stories of ordinary women in Ukraine". The Straits Times. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
  6. ↑ McEachern, Sarah (11 July 2022). "The Banality of Gender-Based Violence: On Nataliya Meshchaninova's "Stories of a Life" and Yevgenia Belorusets's "Lucky Breaks"". Los Angeles Review of Books. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
  7. ↑ "What to Read and See about Ukraine and Ukrainians in 2024". Razom for Ukraine. 18 January 2024. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
  8. ↑ "Five of the best recent books from Ukraine". The Guardian. 8 February 2024. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
  9. ↑ "International Literature Award 2020 by HKW goes to German translation of "Lucky Breaks" - Yevgenia Belorusets — Website". belorusets.com. Retrieved 2025-11-29.
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