Endling: 'One of the leading post-Soviet writers of her generation' (The Atlantic)

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'A supremely talented writer ... Open this book, fasten your seatbelt, and brace for impact' Ben Fountain, author of Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk

In the absurdist literary tradition of George Saunders comes the debut novel of 'one of the leading post-Soviet writers of her generation' (The Atlantic) which chronicles the journey of three Ukrainian women and one extremely endangered snail through the travails of capitalism, foreign invasion, romance and survival.

Ukraine, 2022. Nastia and her sister, Solimaya, are entangled in the booming bridal industry, entertaining Western men who've come to Ukraine on 'Romance Tours' to find their dream woman. Yeva is a a maverick scientist who's tried, and failed, to breed specimens from the region's dwindling snail population in her mobile lab.

Nastia's obsession with finding her absent mother leads her to embark on the journey of a lifetime across hundreds of miles: three angry women, a truckful of kidnapped Western bachelors, and Lefty, a rare snail with one last shot at perpetuating his species.

This journey, and these dreams, come to a screeching halt as Russia invades. As fiction and real life combine on the page, Reva probes the hard truths of war. Endling is a tour de force from an author on the cutting edge of fiction, telling a story of love, loss, humour, and devastation that only she could tell.

Praise for GOOD CITIZENS NEED NOT FEAR:

'Bright, funny, satirical and relevant. . . . A new talent to watch!' MARGARET ATWOOD (via Twitter)

'Maria Reva's enthralling debut of interlinked short stories achieves the double effect of timelessness and timeliness' KAPKA KASSABOVA, GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE DAY

'A comic triumph' GLOBE AND MAIL

'Bang-on brilliant' MIRIAM TOEWS

'Luminous' YANN MARTEL

'Outstanding' ANTHONY DOERR

Reviews

Maria Reva's dazzling debut novel Endling will take you on a ride you will never forget. Into this brilliant stew of a novel the fearless Reva stirs Ukraine's notorious "romance tour" industry, feminist activists, a kidnapping caper, the fine science of snail conservation, the eternal mysteries of family dynamics and Europe's first major land war since World War II. Only a supremely talented writer could handle material like this, and Reva--who seems incapable of writing a dud sentence--shows she's more than up to the task. Open this book, fasten your seatbelt, and brace for impact * Ben Fountain, author of Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk *

Author Bio

MARIA REVA was born in Ukraine and grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia. Her debut collection of stories, Good Citizens Need Not Fear, was published in 2020 and praised by Margaret Atwood, Miriam Toews and many others. She has an MFA in fiction from the Michener Center at the University of Texas. Her work has appeared in Best American Short Stories 2017, McSweeney's and Granta. She currently lives in Vancouver, Canada, and also works as an opera librettist.