To Odessa for May Day

If you’re still wondering whether it was possible to avoid the war between two fraternal peoples—Russians and Ukrainians—read Irina Butorina’s book “To Odessa for the May Holidays. A Non-Resort Novel.” Peter, a student from St. Petersburg, swept up in liberal ideas, and his beloved girl Irina travel to Odessa for the May holidays to see the country of the victorious democracy with their own eyes. Odessa welcomed them with rabid Russophobia, a deranged crowd of neo-Nazis in the streets—and nearly burned them alive in the House of Trade Unions. In that fire, youthful dreams and love burned away, but a man was born who knows what must be done. The book is based on real events that took place on May 2, 2014, in Odessa.