Under This Unbroken Sky
I had a difficult time putting it down and when I had to, the characters stayed with me, inspiring me with their courage, their determination and their will to survive.
Rated of 5
by Beverly J. (Huntersville, NC)
The Illusion of Freedom
In Under This Unbroken Sky by Shandi Mitchell, the reader is treated to a beautifully written debut novel which describes a slice of life of the Ukrainian immigrants in the northern plains of Canada.
It is the spring of 1937, and Theo Mykolayenko returns to his wife and children after serving two years in jail for stealing his own grain. Theo stoically survived jail time by keeping his eyes on the prize of being free and owning his land. After all, wasn’t Canada the land of the free? Maria, his wife, and children survived the years by living in Theo sister’s shed and by pooling together their resources. Theo’s sister, Anna, has secured an adjacent homestead for Theo, unbeknown to her abusive husband. Will Theo be able to forget the past injustices and keep his eye on the future? Why does Anna cohort with the coyotes and will she learn from their strength to resist letting her husband back into her life? Will Maria, with her soothing spirit, be able to mend her husband and her sister-in-law? Will the children of Theo and Anna be able to straddle both their Ukrainian past and Canadian future?
This was an impressive novel that succeeded on many levels. The characters just came alive and will have the reader vested in their lives and feel their pain and joy of the vicissitudes of life. The description of the land and how unrelenting the elements were made Mother Nature a character in the book and you were rooting for this villainous character not to succeed in her attempt to break the spirit and resilience of the other characters. Tragedy was always looming, but to the credit of Shandi Mitchell’s skill as a writer, I was not quite sure when it would happen or to whom. This was an excellent immigrant story which showed that the success of the immigrant was less about the immigrants will to succeed but more on how much the new country was willing to allow the immigrant to succeed, and how those in power would always make and change the rules to make sure that they stayed in power.
Rated of 5
by Carol T. (Ankeny, Iowa)
Enthralling
As I read Under This Unbroken Sky, I couldn’t help but be reminded of Rolvaag’s classic Giants in the Earth. While Under This Unbroken Sky is more grim, both writers were unafraid to show immigrant life as it really was, not the “streets paved with gold” of myth. Most of our ancestors lived some version of this life, no matter where they settled. Life really was – and is – primarily a matter of making the most of what you have and starting over and over and over from wherever you find yourself.
Mitchell knows how to draw multi-dimensional, convincingly real characters with minimal lines, letting us into the minds of each in turn, and in the process builds suspense because we know something about each one’s internal life that the others can’t know. Their lives play out in front of us, as though we’re watching a gritty play – or real life. Plagues and all.
Under This Unbroken Sky is not only just a “good read,” but also would be an excellent book for group discussion, whether in a high school or college lit or history class or an adult book club.
Rated of 5
by Mary G. (Shreveport, LA)
Under this Unbroken Sky
I found this book very well written - the characters are lifelike and compelling and I was intrigued to find out what would happen. Mitchell's prose is lovely but not distracting, and her details of day-to-day life made the story very convincing. All of this said, these characters lead lives of incredible hardship. This is a really fine book, but not a "feel good" read - it's much too true to the life of that time and place to be light-hearted.
Rated of 5
by Sue P. (Richardson, TX)
Still Reeling From This Debut Novel
I was so involved with the characters in this novel that I dreamed of them. The suspense rivals the most nail-biting thriller I've ever read; the passion and beauty of the language is sometimes overwhelming; and you will never forget the climax. Not an easy read, but a wonderful one.
Rated of 5
by Marcia F. (Batavia, IL)
Under This Unbroken Sky
Conditions on the prairie in the l930s, whether in the US or Canada, were harsh and difficult for all who tried to survive there. In Canada, the treatment towards the Ukrainian immigrants was especially harsh as elegantly portrayed by Shandi Mitchell in her new novel, Under This Unbroken Sky. Her first description of the boys throwing a mouse to the cats to see which one killed it to the final page captivated me completely and I could not put this book down. This is would be a perfect book selection for book clubs as it is a wonderful, fast read with many possibilities for discussions.The story is not an unfamiliar one, but it is extremely well told and has many new twists and very different ending. I loved this book and eagerly await Ms. Mitchell's next novel.
Rated of 5
by Arden A. (Homosassa, FL)
A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words
A picture is worth a thousand words, or so the saying goes. In this book, "Under This Unbroken Sky," the words are worth a thousand pictures. You can see the stark landscape, the animals, both wild and human, scavenging for survival, which is the operative word here, because in the 1938 savage Canadian wilderness, life as we know it does not exist; rather life is about survival.
My words cannot do justice to the beauty, albeit stark, of this first novel. I have seen the word "depressing" used to describe it, but even if that is the case, i could not put it down. I'm there, in the cold, dreary, angry winter, and I'm there in the warm months when the ground needs to be planted with the seeds of the families' survivals. There is love, the love of the land "under this unbroken sky," and there is hate and misunderstanding; there are good people, who work hard and try to do what is right and just, and there are bad people. Or are there? This was a wonderful novel.
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of 5
by Debra S. (keene, nh)
