Your Presence Is Mandatory

WINNER OF THE SAMI ROHR PRIZE FOR JEWISH LITERATURE, FICTION

A riveting debut novel, based on real events, about a World War II veteran with a secret that could land him in the Gulag, and his family who are forced to live in the shadow of all he has not told them.

Ukraine, 2007. War veteran Yefim Shulman was beloved by his children, wife, and coworkers. But in the days after his death, his widow, Nina, finds a letter to the KGB in his briefcase. Yefim had a lifelong secret, and his confession forces Nina and her children to reassess the husband, father, and grandfather they thought they knew and the bonds they'd formed with him and each other.

Following one family over the course of 70 years and three generations, Sasha Vasilyuk shines a light into the shadowy corners of a marriage marred by secrecy and the sacrifices people make to survive. Compassionate, gripping, and intimate, Your Presence Is Mandatory is "at once a historical epic, an engrossing family saga, and an astute examination of morality, survival, hope, and love" (Lara Prescott).

“At once a historical epic, an engrossing family saga, and an astute examination of morality, survival, hope, and love, Your Presence Is Mandatory is a stunning feat.” —Lara Prescott, New York Times bestselling author of The Secrets We Kept

“A compelling exploration of both the distant past and more recent events . . . Vasilyuk's engagement with uncomfortable truths is chief among many reasons I think it's so important for my former compatriots to read her novel.” —Los Angeles Review of Books

“A gratifyingly specific portrait of a Jewish Ukrainian whose plight reflects that of his native country . . . Though Your Presence Is Mandatory focuses on one Ukrainian, it resonates far beyond Eastern Europe.” —San Francisco Chronicle