Synopsis

When the war starts in Ukraine, a finance professor Viktor Yurchenko decides to flee to the US together with his elderly mother and three young kids (his wife passed away). They miraculously escape out of their small town, Irpin’, under the raining Russian missiles and through the improvised bridge across the freezing river. The family manages to fight their way onto a scarce night train to Warsaw from an overcrowded railway platform in central Kyiv. They are now out of danger. Viktor’s in-laws, Igor and Tamara, are less lucky: they stay in Irpin’ under Russian occupation. For months, nothing is known about their whereabouts.

After arriving in Washington DC, Viktor’s family originally plans to stay with his young niece, Anna Levenko, who recently started a new job at a prestigious international company. That’s the only relative Viktor has got overseas. But Anna’s apartment is tiny, and his family is huge. Anna brings up her dilemma to one of her friends at work, Teresa Jameson.
Teresa is a big executive at their company. She has a large home in a ritzy area of Washington and plenty of extra space (her husband Lenny recently moved out, so it’s just Teresa and her little daughter Erica living there). Teresa does not want to host anyone in her house, as she hopes to reconcile with Lenny as soon as possible. But she offers temporary shelter to the refugee family. Quickly, she wishes she didn’t. On the day of their first meeting, everything goes wrong. She can’t stand Viktor, who appears an annoying and unappealing person. She also didn’t expect the chaos a large family with little kids could bring to her perfect house.

However, as Teresa gets to know Viktor and his family better, she realizes that it’s fun to be around them. Viktor turns out a much more attractive man than she thought originally. They have a lot in common, including their academic background and research interests. Teresa notices Viktor’s partiality for her and wants to explore their relationship further.

Meantime, events in Ukraine are heartbreaking. Anna’s mother Olena and grandmother Maria run to the bomb shelter in the middle of the night as the attack on Kyiv unfolds. The missiles destroy their apartment, but luckily, they don’t get hurt. Viktor’s father-in-law, Igor, ends up in the hospital in Kyiv, badly injured by Russian soldiers. His wife Tamara gets killed. At one point, Maria and Olena visit Igor in the hospital and find him in critical condition. He reveals to them that long ago, he committed a major mistake, which changed the course of Maria’s life. He cannot reverse the harm, but he gives Maria a clue to finding her late husband’s family.

Back in Washington, Teresa and Viktor are about to go on their first date. But right at that time, Lenny signals that he wants to come back. Teresa realizes she might be missing out on something great. However, she wants to give her marriage a chance. The date never happens, and Viktor and his family move out.

A few weeks later, however, Teresa witnesses Lenny hitting on another woman. Just a few months ago, she would have looked the other way and let it go. But not this time. She ends her unhappy marriage and starts a relationship with Viktor.

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Excerpt

“Hopefully, your trip will go well.” Olena handed the leashes to Viktor with a long sigh and gave one last pat to the dogs, who whined softly. They felt everything as much as people did. And probably even more. “Take care of these girls. They are precious. I’ll miss them a lot.”

“I’m sure the war will be over soon.” Viktor carefully took the leashes in his hand, like they were made of gold. He now had an important responsibility. “We’ll all celebrate together.”

As he was walking away with Lapa and Zirka, Viktor looked back for a moment. Olena waved to him softly and turned away, unable to control the sobbing.

Viktor got to the railway station exactly two hours before the train to Warsaw was supposed to depart. It was sufficient time, but he quickly realized that getting on the train was not going to be easy. In fact, it was nothing short of an ultimate test of endurance and desire to live.

By now, the train station was flooded with millions of people desperately trying to get out of the capital before the Russian army got closer. Getting on the train was free, but trains were extremely scarce—which meant that a huge, shapeless crowd of people moved around the platform from train to train in hopes of landing a seat. Many people didn’t have a particular destination in mind and simply wanted to get on one of the trains going to Western Ukraine or Poland.

It’s going to be a total nightmare getting on this train, Viktor said to himself. He squeezed his hands into fists and looked over their motley group: three young kids, each holding a small suitcase; a frail elderly woman with a bad ankle; a cockatoo in a large cage; two frightened-to-death dogs with fluffed-up fur and tails between their legs; and a middle-aged university professor who had spent most of his life with his nose stuck in a book. Not an athlete. Not a hero.

They were at an obvious disadvantage compared to many other families who gathered at the platform. Nevertheless, they had to try. Fight their way onto the train.

“We’ll make it, guys. One way or the other,” he said to his family so confidently that he almost started believing it himself. “As soon as the train comes, we’ll just go ahead and never look back.”

Viktor vaguely remembered what happened next. At 10 p.m., the train to Warsaw finally arrived, lighting up the night sky and filling the air with a loud sound.

It’s now or never, Viktor thought, trying to gather all his energy and will to live and protect his loved ones. He felt like an Olympian before his triple jump at the Olympics. In order to survive, he only had this one chance, and he needed to execute it perfectly.

With Yaryshka on his shoulder, two dogs on his back, and Natalia on his arm, Taras and Halia right next to them, he went on, squeezing through the crowd like a twenty-ton bulldozer, until his family was finally near the door of one of the cars.

About the Author

Valeriya Goffe was born and raised in Kyiv, Ukraine and spent most of her adult life in the USA. She resides in Washington DC together with her husband, Bill, and a nine-year-old daughter, Elizabeth. You can often find their family golfing, playing tennis or hiking at the Rock Creek Park. They are also frequent visitors at the Jekyll Island, one of the Georgia’s incredible Golden Isles.

Valeriya’s daytime job involves writing analytical reports and managing complex financial sector projects at a large international organization. Previously, she worked in financial services consulting, auditing and in academia. Valeriya holds a PhD degree in finance from the Kyiv National University of Economics in Ukraine and an MBA degree from Kogod School of Business, American University in Washington DC. She is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Charterholder and a member of the Accounting Advisory Board at the Kogod School of Business. Valeriya enjoys learning foreign languages. She is trilingual in English, Russian, Ukrainian and also speaks French and Spanish.

While she finds her business career quite rewarding, Valeriya’s life would not be complete without creative writing. She writes a travel and family blog, and she published her debut fiction novel, Secrets We Keep, in 2024.

Valeriya’s writing is very closely intertwined with travel, from which she gets many of her plots and characters. Over the years, she has visited many countries in America, Africa, Middle East, Europe, and Asia. No matter where she goes, she manages to find some interesting stories which need to be shared with the readers. These stories eventually end up on her travel blog or in one of her books. Africa in particular has left a large imprint on Valeriya’s life and given her a lot of inspiration. She has also been quite lucky to explore the countries of Central Asia which are rich in historical heritage, natural beauty and also interesting personalities. Some of these adventures will be reflected in her future books.

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