The novel by Kherson-born Maria Reva, who now lives in Canada, has been longlisted for the 2025 Booker Prize. The book is titled Endling.
This was reported by Suspilne Kultura.
At first the novel tells of the deaths of snails, but later the story takes on a much deeper meaning. It is noted that the full-scale Russian invasion completely changed the book’s narrative: in her fiction writing the author shifted the emphasis and began to speak about her relatives in Ukraine — people who, like those snails, found themselves in danger.
Maria Reva was born in Kherson and spent the first seven years of her life there. In 1997 her family emigrated to Canada.
She is known as a librettist and writer of texts for contemporary operas. In 2021 Reva debuted in prose with the short story collection Good Citizens Need Not Fear, in which she reflects on the experience of living in post-Soviet Ukraine.
Endling became Maria Reva’s first full-length novel. The book received favorable reviews from leading American media, notably for the honesty and boldness of its artistic experiment.