Field studies of Ukrainian sex

One of the main appeals of the novel is its language — luxurious, lively, and sharp. Its style is diverse — from conversational to somewhat vulgar and even poetic — but the words invariably create a superb canvas, from which it is impossible to tear oneself away. Despite its provocative title, the novel's ideas focus on national history, identity, and the characters' personal wanderings, expressed in an erotic narrative; in a completely new type of story, one that the Ukrainian public has not yet encountered.

The sensual monologue about everything that hurts belongs to a Ukrainian lecturer who teaches a course on Ukrainian literature at an American university. She has achieved certain successes in the academic world and also writes poetry, some of which has been translated into English: her texts have gained recognition. At the center of the plot is a love story (or is it love?) between the protagonist and the artist Mykola K. The relationship, which begins with the narrator's refusal, soon becomes a dramatic experience full of sensuality, dependence, and violence. There is never silence in the narrator's thoughts, only an eternal reflection on dozens of topics that trouble her as a woman, an intellectual, a Ukrainian, and a lover. The novel dissects the national from a personal perspective, exploring how the national interacts with the intimate and offering a look at the classic plots of our history through the prism of sexual dependence.