Under the Starry Sky

The collection Under the Starry Sky presents readers with about fifteen short stories by the famous historian and politician Mykhailo Hrushevsky, revealing his significant literary talent. These diverse short stories cover a wide range of themes: from dramatic and philosophical to matrimonial, fantastical, exotic, and apocalyptic.
Hrushevsky's stories are characterized by their keen attention to the psychology of the characters and their inner worlds. The writer gladly chose plots from the lives of ordinary, unremarkable people. Describing their daily worries and mundane activities, he was able to observe a vast spectrum of feelings and typical traits of his contemporaries. As a professional historian, Hrushevsky often turned to subjects from Ukrainian history, enriching his works with historical authenticity.
The essay-memoir How I Once Was a Fiction Writer is a unique and concluding address from Mykhailo Hrushevsky to his readers. The sixteen stories collected within it vividly demonstrate how the author himself changed over time and how his unique style developed.
Hrushevsky tells of the lives of Ukrainians in the past and present: their fears, doubts, dreams, and desires. He believed that this was the main task of a writer — to reach out to each other across time and space, to overcome all life's obstacles in the face of eternity, embodied by the silent abyss of the starry sky.