What do readers think of Under This Unbroken Sky by Shandi Mitchell? Write your own review.

In Under This Unbroken Sky by Shandi Mitchell, the reader is treated to a beautifully written debut novel which describes a slice of life of the Ukrainian immigrants in the northern plains of Canada.

It is the spring of 1937, and Theo Mykolayenko returns to his wife and children after serving two years in jail for stealing his own grain. Theo stoically survived jail time by keeping his eyes on the prize of being free and owning his land. After all, wasn’t Canada the land of the free? Maria, his wife, and children survived the years by living in Theo sister’s shed and by pooling together their resources. Theo’s sister, Anna, has secured an adjacent homestead for Theo, unbeknown to her abusive husband. Will Theo be able to forget the past injustices and keep his eye on the future? Why does Anna cohort with the coyotes and will she learn from their strength to resist letting her husband back into her life? Will Maria, with her soothing spirit, be able to mend her husband and her sister-in-law? Will the children of Theo and Anna be able to straddle both their Ukrainian past and Canadian future?

This was an impressive novel that succeeded on many levels. The characters just came alive and will have the reader vested in their lives and feel their pain and joy of the vicissitudes of life. The description of the land and how unrelenting the elements were made Mother Nature a character in the book and you were rooting for this villainous character not to succeed in her attempt to break the spirit and resilience of the other characters. Tragedy was always looming, but to the credit of Shandi Mitchell’s skill as a writer, I was not quite sure when it would happen or to whom. This was an excellent immigrant story which showed that the success of the immigrant was less about the immigrants will to succeed but more on how much the new country was willing to allow the immigrant to succeed, and how those in power would always make and change the rules to make sure that they stayed in power.

I had a difficult time putting it down and when I had to, the characters stayed with me, inspiring me with their courage, their determination and their will to survive.

This was a beautifully written novel. It kept me riveted from the first page. The characters are fully drawn and it was a pleasure to read such lyrical writing. I only gave it 4 stars because I have a hard time with depressing novels. This should be a favorite of book clubs all over North America.

This book is very well written. The author's description of people's feelings, seasons of the year, landscapes, etc. are done in a wonderfully clear manner. For example: the bitter but awesome winter is familiar to me as I live in northern Minnesota.
Many tragedies come to the family. Each character faces these setbacks in their own way, giving a true insight into their strengths and weaknesses. I found the book fascinating and one that I will remember for a long time.

To start with, I had no idea that Canada invited Ukrainian immigrants. This book kept my interest to the end. In the beginning, I was apprehensive at each page turn: What possibly could go wrong with the characters next? I felt I was reading the unfolding of a scary movie. The author's descriptions and details were vivid and believable. I could not wait for the end, yet having been warned the the ending was tragic, I knew I was asking for some disappointment with the story.

Not so--as it was as it had to be and the family moved on. My mother was born into a family of farmers who'd traveled by train from the Midwest to homestead in Washington state. Her stories of the near poverty (although c. 1910) reminded me that farming was not easy at all--even in later years.

This was not an easy book to read, but somehow I was reluctant to put it down, and when I finished it I realized how deeply I had been drawn into the lives of this extended family.

The writing is sharply expressive, the landscapes vividly described; the reader is truly there. There is no happy ending, just a continuation of the will to survive no matter how long dreams must be deferred or how many hopes are dashed.

Under This Unbroken Sky is not for the faint of heart. It is very well written and sustains a high level of suspense, even through scenes of daily domestic routine, as you wait for the tragedy promised on the first page to unfold.The characters are believable and compelling and the setting perfectly rendered. However this novel is saturated in unrelenting grimness. It is bleak and you can taste the desperation of the poor family, who are clearly headed for a catastrophic end. I can't say I enjoyed the book although I appreciated it's artistry.

A harsh, bleak picture of life as an immigrant in 1930's Canada. A time when daily life was a struggle and just making a living took everything one had. I did not like the writing style of the book; the sentences were short and choppy. There was little character development. The characters did not seem to have any control over the events in the book, everything happened "to" them. The book succeeded in communicating the harshness of the time period and ultimately showed the resilience of the human spirit. However, I found it too dark and depressing for my tastes.