Review: Out of Ukraine by Emily Gallo

“‘I think I’m so hungry that I’m not anymore. Does that make sense?’
Eric laughed. ‘As much sense as anything else that’s happening.’” (p. 215)

★★★★☆

Review:

First, I would like to thank the author for providing me with an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A nail-biting journey through surrogacy, COVID-19, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine

After losing their 4-year-old to leukemia and years of secondary infertility, Heather and Eric seek out an affordable surrogacy option. Their research leads them to an agency in Ukraine. Stricken by COVID-19 as their surrogate’s due date approaches, Heather must stay behind, and Eric’s mother, Abby, accompanies him on his journey to retrieve his newborn daughter, Jillian. Russia invades Ukraine shortly after Jillian is born, forcing Eric and Abby to flee the country with the baby in the dead of winter.

Emily Gallo’s attention to detail in Out of Ukraine makes the book feel as though it could only have been written by someone who faced all the challenges firsthand. Every turn is met with another blockade, forcing Abby and Eric to devise unique strategies to overcome their circumstances. The tension they feel is realistically conveyed through Eric’s surly tone and Abby’s bouts of panic, which compounds the strain on their resolve. While they are trapped in Europe for many weeks, the story maintains a fast pace and high energy. The narrative, at times, does more telling than showing, but the story is so compelling that the pages fly by rapidly. As the trio faces unimaginable hardship–but also heartwarming, selfless charity–Out of Ukraine is a distinctive literary examination of human resilience.

Audience: adult
Trigger warnings: grief, childhood cancer, child loss, infertility, poverty, war, COVID-19
Recommended for fans of: literary fiction, contemporary fiction

Publisher's Synopsis:

Eric and Abby travel from California to Ukraine to pick up Jillian, born via surrogacy, when Russia attacks and they are forced to flee. It is the middle of the COVID pandemic in the frigid temperatures of winter as they escape the horrors of war with an infant and little else.

Source:

Emily Gallo

©Emily Gallo: June 13, 2024
Edition: Digital ARC
238 pages

Author Bio:

I View My Life in 3 Acts
Emily Kaufman was the girl growing up in Manhattan in the fifties and sixties. In the sixties and seventies, I attended Clark University and lived in San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles and Seattle doing the hippie/peace/love/protest thing.
In the eighties and nineties, Emily Saur lived in Northampton, MA and Davis, CA and was the more conventional wife, mother of two, and elementary school teacher.
In 2006, I retired from teaching and became Emily Gallo when I married David, a professor of economics, and moved to Chico, CA to continue our journey. I started writing screenplays and television and moved into novels. David, Gracie (our Schillerhound), Savali (our cat) and I now divide our time between two and a half acres of gardens, orchards in Chico and a 750 square foot condo on the beach in Carpinteria, CA.

Connect with Emily Gallo: https://www.emilygallo.com
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