Delivery:
On our website, you pay only the cost of the book(s), and delivery services separately (according to Nova Poshta tariffs).
Pre-orders will be shipped in the fall of 2026.
About the book:
"The Rule of Ursa Major" is a book for those who love high-quality modern Ukrainian prose about finding oneself, appreciate lively humor and authentic everyday life, and seek answers to questions about one's own identity in literature. A novel that reveals the most important truth: we are strong only when we remember our pillars and roots.
The events of the novel unfold between cozy Khmelnytskyi, majestic Chernivtsi, the distant American state of Maine and stormy Kyiv. But no matter where the smart, sharp-tongued and purposeful Lesya Zhmurko ends up, she is invariably drawn back - to the Podil village to her grandparents, where century-old apple trees grow, the native dialect sounds and unique folk traditions are preserved. Step by step, Lesya gets an education, experiences her first painful disappointments, runs away from a broken heart to the capital and finds new love. Her whole life is put together into a wonderful understandable puzzle, until November 2013 freezes on the calendar, forcing the heroes to go to the Maidan and answer the main question: who are they really?
You will like this book if you like:
strong female heroines;
coming-of-age novels;
stories where private life is intertwined with the history of the country;
Ukrainian atmosphere without artificial pathos;
living characters who are easy to recognize among your acquaintances;
books that make you want to call your parents or grandmother.
It will especially appeal to readers who love emotional novels that leave behind not despair, but a sense of light and gratitude.
What is the book "The Rule of Ursa Major" like?
The series "Catch Kaidash" - because of its incredibly accurate and somewhat tragicomic depiction of Ukrainian rural life, lively dialogues, and complex family relationships, where love always borders on disputes.
The book "Ask Miechka" by Evgenia Kuznetsova - because of the similar vibe of a warm and saving village, where the heroines escape from city problems, and where relatives always have a lot of life stories and advice.
The book "Geese-Swans Are Flying" by Mykhailo Stelmakh - the heroine of the work does not just read and remember this classic story - the entire text resonates with it with the theme of a childish, magical perception of the world, nature, and love for one's native land.
The film "My Thoughts Are Quiet" - for its similar humor, the atmosphere of growing up, and the subtle and ironic revelation of the theme of the relationship between a mother and a teenager who is trying to become independent.
About the author:
Iryna Rudzik is a writer, information analyst, and translator. She was born in Khmelnytskyi, graduated from the Faculty of International Relations, and since 2017 has been living in Germany, where she works as a procurement manager in a large Hamburg company. She is a graduate and the pride of the METHOD WRITING writing school. “The Rule of Ursa Major” is her debut novel.
She began writing in the fall of 2023 after a trip to Ukraine. The sharp emotions from communicating with her relatives and the realization that unique family stories and authentic everyday life irrevocably pass away with generations prompted her to capture this memory in a literary text. In her work, Iryna delicately combines the rationality of information analytics with subtle artistic empathy.
At the center of the novel is a person in the process of becoming, who is afraid, but does it anyway. The author writes in a juicy, lively language, capturing the Podolian dialect, almost disappeared culinary recipes, and difficult rural life, where “both laughter and sin” border. Iryna’s goal is to create deep and high-quality Ukrainian literature that preserves the voices of our past and helps us hold on to our inner compass in times of the greatest historical upheavals.