The Sky Unwashed

by Irene Zabytko

Book Overview

Early on an April Saturday in 1986 in a farm village in Ukraine, widow Marusia Petrenko and her family awake to a day of traditional wedding preparations. Marusia bakes her famous wedding bread-a korovai-in the communal village oven to take to her neighbor's granddaughter's reception. Late that night, after all the dancing and drinking, Marusia's son Yurko leaves for his shift at the nuclear power plant at Chernobyl.

In the morning, the air...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1565122461
• ISBN13: 9781565122468
• Release Date: March 2000
• Publisher: Algonquin Books
• Length: 280 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Requiem for Starylis

On 26 April 1986, a catastrophic accident at the Chernobyl power plant in what is now the Ukraine, sent a massive cloud of radioactive particles into the stratosphere. After Swedish detectors picked up the radiation in the atmosphere, the news of the accident made headlines around the world, reigniting debates on the safety of nuclear power plants.Although the Soviet government was unable to deny the accident, they did their best to downplay the results and the stories of human suffering were, and still remain, largely untold. In The Sky Unwashed, Irene Zabytko tells us a very personal tale that seeks to correct this deplorable situation.Despite several hundred years of industrial progress, the Ukrainian countryside remains surprisingly rural and backward. Although some farm machinery can be seen, for the most part, the planting and harvesting is still done through manual labor. Abundant grazing lands abound, meaning readily available beef and dairy products for the farmers, more so than for their fellow citizens in urban centers such as Kiev.At first glance, one might assume the small village of Starylis to be nothing more than a peasant village. A second glance, however, will reveal its high percentage of young people...people who are employed as electricians and construction workers at the nearby Chernobyl nuclear power plant.The protagonist of The Sky Unwashed is Marusia Petrenko, one of the older women of the village. Marusia views the habits of the young people with disdain and scorn. After all, she, herself, has survived political and personal turmoil that include a World War, the ravages of Stalinism and desertion by her husband. Understandably, she tends to turn to her Orthodox religion for guidance and comfort rather than to her government. Marusia, however, is a woman who is satisfied with her life. She is happy she can share her home with her grown son, Yurko, his wife, Zosia and Yurko and Zosia's two children. While all is not perfect in Marusia's world, it is not too bad, either.At a Palm Sunday religious service, a few of the villagers remark on the sound of an explosion the night before, while several others express concern over the absence of relatives due home after the Chernobyl plant's second shift. Women notice a metallic tang in the air, yet no one really shows any undue alarm. If something were amiss at the plant, they reason, surely their government would let them know.It isn't until several days after the accident, when the villagers are gathered together and sent to Kiev, that they realize something must be terribly wrong. They are, however, never told exactly why they must leave Starylis nor when they may return. Even more shocking, there are no provisions for their continued existence once they arrive in Kiev.As time passes and the people around her sicken and die, Marusia realizes that all she wants to do is return to the only home she has ever known...Starylis...despite the cautions and the dangers. S

A great book lost in the mass market mediocrity of books.

I am only the sixth reader to have reviewed this book, however the five who precede me are unanimous in their Judgement, 5 stars. This is the first work by Irene Zabytko and judged by any literary measure, it is ranked about 18,000 places lower than it deserves.This book is about a small piece of that former Empire that one of our Presidents called evil. It chronicles the suffering surrounding an event, which probably all are familiar with. What the work also does is to show how cruel, how wretched, how evil, a typical day in that former Forced union of Republics was.The truth is visible, the truth can literally be tasted, but people conditioned for so long to the distorted reality of their leaders is still given pause. They are comforted when a "Pioneer", a young girl in the Soviet School System in her uniform of white with a red tie, hands them an envelope, the contents of which will keep them healthy.This book then centers on women, mostly "babysi" and the choices they make when faced with alternatives that differ only in the misery they will endure. Their decisions seen from a distance are illogical, placed in the context of this story and the system they live under, their decisions become noble. Despite lifetimes mislead by deceit they know what they want even as they know the outcome with certainty.This is a novel, but the story, the insanity that was and is Chornobyl/Chernobyl is more poignant in this book than any report you have watched or listened to. It is more frightening and more abominable when experienced through the "fictional" eyes of these characters.Ms. Zabytko takes a recent historical event, and renders a tale that reads as if written with other great 19th century works. Novels that are famous for there detail, for the reality they create. The true time frame intrudes only when a word like television is mentioned. Much more important and so well done is the description of the baking of a wedding bread in a communal clay stove. This Authoress has a talent for turning characters into people you see clearly in your mind's eye, and would look twice if you saw a similar face amidst your day.A Cat that becomes a timepiece for death, a woman who climbs the stairs of her Church to ring bells that she has no right to hope anyone will hear. A beautiful story, if a Requiem for a small town named Starylis and it's people can be so called.Extremely well done.

An original tale

"The Sky Unwashed" opens with the portrayal of life in a small Ukrainian village on the outskirts of Chernobyl. There is an obvious cultural divide between the old-timers who continue to till the communal land, and the younger generation who toil at the plant. However, none of them seem to fully comprehend the ticking time bomb which looms in the distance.The horror of the Chernobyl accident, and the mishandling of the situation by the Soviet government, are disturbing. When one of the elder women of the town finds herself alone in Kiev after a governmental evacuation, she determines that she has no real alternative other than to return to the poisoned village, where others soon join her.I couldn't put this book down. The characters are fascinating -- especially the tenacious old women who have seen so much hardship their whole lives. Their strength shines through, as they treat the radiation poisoning as just another hurdle in their lives which must be overcome.Coincidentally, I finished reading "The Sky Unwashed" on the day that the Ukranian government finally agreed to close down the remaining reactor... Hopefully, the rest of the harm can be repaired.

Should be on Oprah's List!

As exciting a discovery as Amy Tan, Gish Jen, or even Isaac Bashevis Singer. Zabytko makes an entire culture accessible to English readers, in this timeless, moving, and unforgettable story. I don't think there has been a Ukranian writer with this combination of pathos and humor since Nicholas Gogol. This is not just a story about Chernobyl (although the story is riveting)- this is one of the rare books that could change the way you look at the world.

A must read

The author puts a human face on the tragedy at Chernobyl through the main characters, Marusia and Zosia, her daughter-in-law. After the forced evacuation of their town, Starylis, and the death of their son and husband, both women struggle to start over. Marusia returns to Starylis to find the town deserted until a handful of other older women return to the only place they have called home. Zosia, on the other hand, takes her children as far away from the contaminated area as she can. Although the tragedy of Chernobyl has forever changed their lives, these women show a determination to better their lives and the lives of those they love and exhibit how strong the human spirit is.