Your Presence Is Mandatory
A Novel
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Your Presence Is Mandatory
Buy Now for £17.99
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Narrated by:
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Sam Rushton
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By:
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Sasha Vasilyuk
About this listen
Bloomsbury presents Your Presence Is Mandatory by Sasha Vasilyuk, read by Sam Rushton.
Winner of the 2025 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature | Gold Medal Winner for the 94th Annual California Book Awards | Longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize
A riveting debut novel, based on real events, about the price of secrecy, the weight of lies, and one man's drive to protect his family from his past.
Ukraine, 2007. War veteran Yefim Shulman was beloved by his children, wife, and coworkers. But in the days after his death, his widow, Nina, finds a letter to the KGB in his briefcase. Yefim had a lifelong secret, and his confession forces Nina and her children to reassess the husband, father, and grandfather they thought they knew and the bonds they’d formed with him and each other.
Following one family over the course of 70 years and three generations, Sasha Vasilyuk shines a light into the shadowy corners of a marriage marred by secrecy and the sacrifices people make to survive. Compassionate, gripping, and intimate, Your Presence Is Mandatory is "at once a historical epic, an engrossing family saga, and an astute examination of morality, survival, hope, and love" (Lara Prescott).
Critic reviews
'At once a historical epic, an engrossing family saga, and an astute examination of morality, survival, hope, and love, Your Presence Is Mandatory is a stunning feat. The emotional impact of reading Sasha Vasilyuk's gripping debut is immense. I sat with the vivid characters Vasilyuk has created for hours after reading, and I continue to think of them. Your Presence Is Mandatory is a book to last generations, and one I won't soon forget.' (Lara Prescott, New York Times bestselling author of THE SECRETS WE KEPT)
'An absorbing historical drama that spans from WWII to the current Russian-Ukraine conflict. Vasiluk is tender and caring with her characters and her setting. Fans of All The Light We Cannot See will find the perfect historical novel with this book.' (Debutiful, "Most Anticipated Debut Books of 2024")
'Wonderfully written, elegiac and necessary, Sasha Vasiyuk uncovers the history behind the recent headlines with great skill and grace.' (Gary Shteyngart, author of OUR COUNTRY FRIENDS)
'An engrossing family saga and a secret key for anyone who wants to understand how history has brought Ukrainians and Russians to where they are today.' (Boris Fishman, author of SAVAGE FEAST)