Dmytro Orlov

Kharkiv, the 1930s. The heyday of Ukrainian art. Ambitious young poet Vladimir Akimov happily settles in at the new luxury "Slovo" House built specifically for artists. He comes from the provinces and works as a proof-reader in a printing press, and has never even dreamed of living under one roof with prominent Ukrainian writers and artists. He thinks his own poetry is genius, but nobody takes his literary efforts seriously, not to mention the occasional chuckles over his epigone poems. But fate smiles at him. The head of the political intelligence agency suggests that he become the author of a play written earlier. Akimov agrees, signing a non- disclosure note. The poet has no idea what price he will pay for this success. “‘Slovo’ House” is a story about a generation of Ukrainian artists persecuted by the totalitarian system, unfolding against the backdrop of one of the largest genocides of the 20th century: the Holodomor, which caused the death of almost 7 million people.

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In the night, someone shoots an elderly couple in their sleep with a hunting rifle, leaving their twenty-year-old son, disabled and confined to a wheelchair, an orphan. The investigation reveals the life story of what seems at first glance to be an ordinary Soviet family. While still young, the couple lost their long-desired infant daughter. Later in life, the fate gives them a child, but he happens to be a boy. The mother's pathological desire to have a daughter becomes an obsession. The woman treats Sashenka as a girl, dresses him as a girl and buys him dolls. The father supports his wife in every way. This is how starts a dramatic and astonishing story of human vices and deviations.

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