Hosted by Faisal Al Yafai
Featuring Yaroslav Trofimov
Produced by Finbar Anderson
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It was while working as The Wall Street Journal’s bureau chief in Kabul that Yaroslav Trofimov first had the idea to write a sweeping novel set in early 20th-century Ukraine. A conflict with Russian-supported forces in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region had been rumbling on since 2014. “I remember being in Kabul and being busy with my day job at The Wall Street Journal, watching the news and being quite upset actually about how little was known about Ukraine,” Trofimov tells New Lines’ Faisal Al Yafai.
The novel, “No Country for Love,” is based loosely on his family history, Trofimov explains. He came to the decision to turn that history into a work of fiction after a meeting with his agent. “He had a very wise observation, saying, ‘We have to figure out if it’s a biography of your grandmother or it’s a novel, because the logic of the events doesn’t make sense sometimes.’” Choosing the novel enabled him to neatly weave various strands of Ukrainian history round his characters.
“This is a story of all of us in Ukraine, because all of us are descended from people who lived through that period, who managed to survive.”
Trofimov finished writing the novel just before Russia’s full-scale invasion of his homeland in February of 2022, but he maintains that the momentous event did not change the story he wanted to tell. “It certainly provides a key to understanding what’s happening now, because the Russian goals haven’t changed,” says Trofimov. “This is a story of all of us in Ukraine, because all of us are descended from people who lived through that period, who managed to survive.”
While the novel reflects universal Ukrainian stories, Trofimov chose to write it in English because he wanted the story to reach a wider audience. “It’s a murder mystery, it’s a love story, but also the purpose of it is to show the events that shape the psychology of the nation.”
For Trofimov, the outcome of the conflict in Ukraine will shape the future of Europe. “If they win in Europe,” he says, “it will be a much more formidable threat to the rest of Europe and other countries in the future. … Countries like Poland or the Baltic states, Finland and even Germany have a lot to fear.”
Trofimov suggests that if Ukraine’s allies allow long-range strikes into Russia, Moscow might be encouraged to the negotiating table and potentially forced to concede occupied Ukrainian territory. Pressed by Al Yafai on the likelihood of Russia giving up that territory, which it has held for two years, Trofimov responds, “It depends what costs there are to Russia and the Russian economy.”