For the third month of the Book Voyage reading challenge, we will be reading books set in Eastern Europe and Russia.
While many of the countries in the western half of Europe are very well known to Americans, as you journey further to the east the region holds more of an air of mystery. This is true in part because the western countries have historically been easier to visit, while many of the Eastern European countries were behind the “Iron Curtain” for much of the 20th century.
The fall of the USSR, in 1991, lead to the creation of more than a dozen new nation-states, and the names and borders of countries in this region have continued to shift and change over the past several decades. Although it’s easy to lump these countries together because of their shared history, the truth is that they are extremely diverse, and we are excited to explore their unique cultures through this month’s books.
Depending on the context – geographical, political, cultural, or historical – you’ll find various answers as to which countries are classified as “Eastern Europe.” In this region, there are numerous countries, like Russia, that straddle the border between Europe and Asia. Additionally, there are numerous countries on the European continent that are considered part of the Middle East from a geo-political perspective. We will be reading books set in the Middle East for the Book Voyage Challenge later this year, so we have not included those countries on this month’s list.
For purposes of this reading challenge, we consider Eastern Europe to include the following: Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus, Czechia (formerly known as the Czech Republic), Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine, Hungary, Romania, Moldova, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Bulgaria, Albania, North Macedonia, mainland Greece (we are saving the Greek Islands for our month-long island journey this summer), Georgia, Chechnya, Armenia, and Azerbaijan.
PS: You can read all about the Book Voyage challenge, find new book lists each month, and download your free printable map book tracker, with a color-coded map of each region here.
As always, you are welcome to choose any book set in this region that you’d like, but to help you get started, we’ve compiled a list of books set in more than 20 different countries, including many of the best Eastern European novels, some wonderful YA books set in Russia and Eastern Europe, and plenty of historical fiction, memoirs, and fascinating non-fiction reads.
We’ve worked hard to curate book recommendations that feature many Eastern European writers, and we’ve placed an emphasis on books that not only take place in Eastern Europe but also provide atmospheric descriptions that will really transport you to the country of your choice.
Throughout the list, we noted the books currently available as part of Kindle Unlimited Subscriptions.
Best Books About Eastern Europe
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The Thread
by Victoria Hislop
Setting: GREECE
This epic historical fiction novel captures the energy and life of the city of Thessaloniki, Greece.
Dimitri is born to one of the wealthiest families in the city, but after a great fire sweeps through Thessaloniki in 1917, destroying the family's villa, they are forced to relocate to a poorer section of the city - one where Christians, Jews, and Muslims have been living side by side in harmony.
As a young girl, Katerina's family is evacuated from their home in Turkey, and she becomes separated from her mother and sister. While her family ends up in Athens, while she finds herself in Thessaloniki. It is here that she becomes a seamstress creating beautiful gowns for the wealthy women of Thessaloniki.
The lives of Dimitri and Katerina become intertwined and their love story endures even as their beloved city is ruined by earthquakes, fires, and wartime and time again. This is a heart-warming love story, but it also provides great insight into the troubled history of this region.
Salt to the Sea
by Ruta Sepetys
Setting: BALTIC SEA & EAST PRUSSIA (now Lithuania, Poland, and Russia)
When you think of maritime disasters, the Titanic is probably the first that comes to mind. But the deadliest disaster at sea occurred in 1945 when a Soviet submarine sunk the Wilhelm Gustloff, a German cruise liner, in the Baltic Sea.
As WWII was drawing to a close and the Red Army advanced on Germany, a massive evacuation effort began to ferry civilians, soldiers, and equipment to safety. The Wilhelm Gustloff, which had a capacity of 1,800, was packed with more than 10,500 passengers. When the ship sank, more than 9,000 people lost their lives, including 5,000 children.
This historical fiction YA novel, tells the stories of four passengers - 21-year-old Joana, who is fleeing her native country of Lithuania; Florian, an artist from East Prussia; 15-year-old Emilia from Poland, who is pregnant; and Alfred, a pompous German soldier.
When tragedy strikes, each of them - regardless of country, culture, or status - must fight for their survival.
The Invisible Bridge
Julie Orringer
Setting: HUNGARY
In 1937, Andras, a young Hungarian-Jewish architecture student departs Budapest. He is bound for Paris with a scholarship, one suitcase, a mysterious letter that he has promised to deliver. Soon he will find himself falling deeply in love with Klara - the letter's recipient. But Klara has doubts and she isn't very open about her past.
As the Third Reich rises to power, Andres and Klara leave Paris and seek safety back home in Hungary. Eventually, Andras will discover a secret that will alter the course of his life and his family's history.
This book will take you from the grand opera houses of Budapest and Paris to the small Hungarian town of Konyar, and from the Carpathian Mountains to the Hungarian labor camps.
The Book Girls Say... If you're looking for a quick read, keep looking. This one comes in at more than 750 pages. If however, you want a historical fiction novel that sheds light on lesser-known aspects WWII and is filled with and romance and beautifully developed characters, then grab a cozy blanket and crack this one open.
The Things We Cannot Say
by Kelly Rimmer
Setting: POLAND
Inspired by the author's own family history, this historical fiction novel tells a tragic love story. Alina and Tomasz were best friends who planned to marry. But when their Polish village falls to the Germans, Alina doesn't know if Tomasz is alive or dead.
Decades later, Alice is struggling to support her son who was born with an autism spectrum disorder. When her grandmother is hospitalized, she begs Alice to return to Poland to see what becomes of those she loved. Alice travels to Poland and begins to uncover her grandmother's story.
The Book Girls Say… Melissa really enjoyed this unique look into WWII. It's not a light read, but it's still a great escape to look at what generations before us endured on a personal level. The split storyline between current times and the war is a nice reprieve from the harder 1940s scenes.
Winter Garden
by Kristin Hannah
Setting: RUSSIA
Sisters Meredith and Nina have little in common other than their love for their dear father. They've spent most of their life feeling like they didn't really know their mother, but when their father falls ill, his final wish is for his daughters to get to know their mother better. In their younger years, Anya sometimes told the girls a Russian fairy tale and night, and their father makes her promise that she will tell the story one last time - all the way to the end.
The story alternates between past and present as Meredith and Nina hear the fairy tale and also learn the harrowing story of the mother's life five decades earlier in war-torn Leningrad, Russia. They will ultimately learn a secret so terrible and terrifying that it will shake the foundation of their family and change who they believe they are.
The Book Girls Say... Like all of Kristin Hannah's novels, this book is beautifully written. It is a bit slow to start, and you may find it hard to connect with the characters at first because they aren't immediately likable, but you'll find yourself pulled in as the lines between fairy tale and reality begin to blur.
The Secrets We Kept
by Lara Prescott
Setting: RUSSIA
In the early 1950s, at the height of the Cold War, two secretaries from the CIA typing pool in Washington DC are given the incredible assignment to smuggle Doctor Zhivago out of the USSR, where it has been refused publication, so that it can be published in the West.
Sally is a former member of the Office of Strategic Services - the WWII intelligence agency - and is an experienced spy who had been relegated to the typing pool after the war. Irina, on the other hand, is a complete novice. But under Sally's tutelage, she quickly learns how to blend in, make drops, and invisibly carry classified documents.
The Book Girls Say... This novel, which is inspired by a true story, combines the intrigue of a spy novel with a heartwarming and emotional love story behind the classic novel of Doctor Zhivago. With portions of this book set in Russia, and portions set in DC, this book provides dual perspectives on the East and the West.
Between Shades of Gray
Ruta Sepetys
Setting: LITHUANIA & RUSSIA
Lina is a typical 15-year-old Lithuanian girl who loves painting, drawing, and boys. But one night in 1941 Soviet officers burst into her home, tearing her family away from their comfortable life. She and her mother and brother are forced onto a train bound for the coldest reaches of the Siberian region of Russia.
Under Stalin's orders, they are forced into a work camp under the cruelest, and coldest, conditions. but Lina finds comfort in her drawings. She depicts the scenes she witnesses on a daily basis in hopes that they'll provide proof of all they are forced to endure.
The Book Girls Say... This YA novel deals with the very grim realities of war, and will introduce you to a side of WII that you've probably learned little about.
Everything Is Illuminated
by Jonathan Safran Foer
Setting: UKRAINE
In this semi-autobiographical novel, the author recounts the trip he made to Ukraine when he was 20-years-old.
With a yellowing photograph as his only clue, a young man named Jonathan sets out for Ukraine eager to learn more about his grandfather's life and to find the woman that may have saved him s grandfather from the German army during WWII.
Jonathan's guide to Ukraine is Alex, an American pop culture-obsessed local who only speaks butchered English. They are also accompanied by Alex's surely grandfather, and a seeing-eye dog named Sammy Davis Jr. Jr.
The Book Girls Say... Jonathan Safran Foer's writing style has received critical acclaim, but isn't for everyone. Some describe it as gimmicky, while others find it hilarious. This book was also made into a 2005 film by the same name, which is available through Amazon Prime.
Moonlight in Odessa
by Janet Skeslien Charles
Setting: UKRAINE
Daria is a young engineer from Odessa, Ukraine, but in the post-Communist economy of Ukraine, she ends up taking a job as a secretary for a foreign shopping firm. This job exposes Daria to the American dream, and she longs to find a way to work in the US.
Fearful for her job security after she refuses the unwanted advances from her boss, Daria begins to moonlight as an interpreter at a matchmaking agency that connects lonely American bachelors with eligible (and desperate) Ukrainian women.
Daria's grandmother wants her to leave Ukraine for good and pushes her to marry one of the men she meets, but Daria already has feelings for a local. She must choose between her world and America, between Vlad, a sexy, irresponsible mobster, and Tristan, a teacher nearly twice her age. Daria chooses security and America. Only it’s not exactly what she thought it would be…
The Book Girls Say... This book is light and humorous on the surface, but it's also filled with emotional complexities. While a portion of the book also takes place in the US, it dives deep into Ukrainian culture and the rich descriptions will make feel like you're in Odessa, Ukraine alongside Daria.
The Girl They Left Behind
by Roxanne Veletzos
Setting: ROMANIA
In 1941, Romania was recently allied with the German army, and the Jewish population is in grave danger of persecution. One freezing night, a young Jewish girl's parents are forced to leave her behind and she is found on the steps of an apartment building in Bucharest. The girl is placed in an orphanage and is eventually adopted by a wealthy couple that renames her Natalia.
She comes of age in Romania under Soviet occupation, where life behind the Iron Curtain feels bleak and hopeless.
When Natalia is in her early twenties and working at a warehouse packing fruit, she is reunited with Victor, who she had a secret crush on in her younger years. He is now an important official in the Communist regime and the two are fatefully drawn into a passionate affair despite the obstacles swirling around them and Victor’s dark secrets.
When Natalia is suddenly offered a one-time chance at freedom, Victor is determined to help her escape, even if it means losing her. She must make an agonizing decision: remain in Bucharest with her beloved adoptive parents and the man she has come to love, or seize the chance to finally live life on her own terms.
The Book Girls Say... This historical fiction novel is perfect for fans of Lilac Girls and Sarah's Key. The Kindle version is currently free with Kindle Unlimited.
People of the Book
by Geraldine Brooks
Setting: BOSNIA
In 1996, Hanna, a rare-book expert is offered the job of a lifetime working on the conservation of the famed Sarajevo Haggadah, one of the earliest Jewish manuscripts ever illuminated with illustrations. The priceless book was rescued from Serb shelling during the Bosnian War. When Hanna discovers a series of tiny artifacts in the book's ancient binding—an insect wing fragment, wine stains, salt crystals, a white hair—she begins to unlock the book’s mysteries.
Inspired by a true story, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Geraldine Brooks has created a novel of sweeping historical grandeur. In Bosnia during WWII, a Muslim risks his life to protect the book from the German army. In turn of the century Vienna, the book has become a pawn in the struggle against the city's rising anti-Semitism. In inquisition-era Venice, a Catholic priest saves the book from being burned. In Barcelona in 1492, the scribe who wrote the text sees his family destroyed by the agonies of enforced exile. And in Seville in 1480, the reason for the Haggadah’s extraordinary illuminations is finally disclosed.
Midnight in Chernobyl
by Adam Higginbotham
Setting: UKRAINE & RUSSIA
In the early morning hours of April 26, 1986, a reactor at the Chernobyl Atomic Energy Station exploded, triggering one of the twentieth century’s greatest disasters. In addition to causing widespread radiation poisoning, Chernobyl was also a key event in the destruction of the Soviet Union, and, with it, the United States’ victory in the Cold War.
Drawing on hundreds of hours of interviews conducted over the course of more than ten years, as well as letters, unpublished memoirs, and documents from recently-declassified archives, Higginbotham provides a powerful investigation into Chernobyl and how propaganda, secrecy, and myth have obscured the true story of one of the history’s worst nuclear disasters.
The Book Girls Say... This work of non-fiction is written by a journalist, but reads more like a movie script. It was named one of NPR’s Best Books of 2019.
Red Notice
by Bill Browder
Setting: RUSSIA
This real-life political thriller tells the true story of an American financier Bill Browder, a graduate of Stanford Business School, who began his career as a hedge fund investor in the 1990s. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, his career led him to Moscow where, as the co-founder of Hermitage Capital Management, he became the largest foreign portfolio investor in Russia.
A decade later, when Browder exposed the corrupt Russian oligarchs who were robbing the companies that he was investing in, Vladimir Putin had him expelled from Russia. All the while, his employees in Russia lived in fear and his attorney - Sergei Magnitsky - was ultimately imprisoned in Moscow where he died.
The Book Girls Say... This memoir provides an enthralling look inside the terrifying world of Russian business and government corruption. This book also provides the context for the Magnitsky Act, which the US Congress passed, and which was signed into law in 2012.
The Good Life Elsewhere
by Vladimir Lorchenkov
Setting: MOLDOVA
The Moldovian village of Larga is depressed in more ways than one and its remaining citizens long for a better life. Meanwhile, just over the border in Italy, the economy is booming. Moldovan writer Vladimir Lorchenkov tells the story of a group of villagers desperate to emigrate from Europe’s most impoverished nation to Italy for work. Their efforts, against all odds and at any cost, result in a tragicomic romp of post-Soviet shenanigans.
In this “simultaneously hilarious and heartbreaking" satirical tale, an Orthodox priest is deserted by his wife for an art-dealing atheist; a mechanic redesigns his tractor for travel by air and sea; thousands of villagers take to the road on a modern-day religious crusade to make it to the promised land of Italy; meanwhile, politicians remain politicians.
Playing the Moldovans at Tennis
by Tony Hawks
Setting: MOLDOVA
It doesn't take much for British comedian and author, Tony Hawks, to accept a bet and set off on a bizarre and hilarious adventure. This humorous travel memoir is the result of one such bet in the 1990s. When his friend bets Tony that he can't beat all eleven members of the Moldovan soccer team at tennis, he takes the bait. The loser of the bet will have to strip naked on Balham Hill Road and sing the Moldovan national anthem.
The ensuing unpredictable and often hilarious adventure sees him being taken in by Moldovan gypsies and narrowly avoid kidnap in Transnistria. It sees him smuggle his way to the Moldovan National Team coach in Coleraine and witness (almost) divine intervention in the Holy Land.
Eurdice Street: A Place in Athens
by Sofka Zinovieff
Setting: GREECE
London-born Sofka fell in love with Greece when she studied there as a student. Years later she returns to live in Athens with her expatriate Greek husband and two young daughters. Using her skill as a journalist, she wrote this fresh, funny, and inquiring 2005 memoir of her first year as an Athenian. She recounts how each member of her family came to grips with their new life and identities—the children starting school and tackling a new language; her husband, Vassilis, coming home to Greece after half a lifetime away; and Sofka herself getting to know her new city better and striving to become a Greek citizen.
As the months go by, Sofka's discovers how memories of Athens' past haunt its present through music, poetry, and history. She also learns about the difficult art of catching a taxi, the importance of smoking, the unimportance of time-keeping, and how to get your Christmas piglet cooked at the baker's.
Among the Living and the Dead
by Inara Verzemnieks
Setting: LATVIA
The author of this memoir was raised in the US by her Lativian grandparents with lots of traditions from their homeland. Her grandmother was separated from her sister, Ausma, during WWII and wasn’t able to see her for over 50 years.
To learn more about this family saga, Inara travels back to Lativa and is able to reconnect with her great-aunt Ausma in a small Latvian village. Ausma was exiled to Siberia under Stalin and had a much different post-war experience than her sister.
The author unites these stories from her personal family history of great loss and great love in a lyrical way that will keep the pages turning.
The Invisible Life of Ivan Isaenko
by Scott Stambach
Setting: BELARUS
Seventeen-year-old Ivan Isaenko is a life-long resident of the Mazyr Hospital for Gravely Ill Children in Belarus. He was born deformed, but is mentally keen with a frighteningly sharp wit, strong intellect, and a voracious appetite for books.
Forced to interact with the world through the vivid prism of his mind, most of Ivan's days are exactly the same. As a result, he turns everything into a game, manipulating people and events around him for his own amusement.
In this hilarious, heart-wrenching, and powerful debut novel, Ivan's monotonous world is upended when a new resident named Polina arrives at the hospital. At first, he resents Polina because she steals his books and challenges his routine. But soon he finds that he is drawn to her. The two forge an unusual romance. Before, Ivan merely survived, but now he wants something more.
Gerta
by Katerina Tuckova
Setting: CZECHIA (formerly the Czech Republic)
Gerta is the daughter of a Czech mother and a German father. In 1945, when the Allied forces liberate her city in the southern region of Czechoslovakia, she is expelled and viewed as an enemy of the state because she is half-German. With nothing but the clothes on her back and an infant daughter, she’s herded among thousands, driven from the only home she’s ever known.
Told through the eyes of this charismatic woman, this breathtaking historical fiction novel sheds light on a long-neglected episode in Czech history, filled with exclusion and prejudice that spans decades and generations. Gerta's courage affects all the lives she touches, especially that of the daughter she loved, fought for, shielded, and would come to inspire.
The Book Girls Say... The Kindle version is currently free with Kindle Unlimited.
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena
by Anthony Marra
Setting: CHECHNYA
This bestseller was commonly noted as one of the best books of 2013. The book weaves between the story of five days in the life of 8-year-old Havaa, who is orphaned when Russian soldiers kidnap her father, and the larger story of two Chechen Wars that took place from 1994 to 2004.
When a neighbor finds Havaa in the forest, he takes her to the abandoned hospital, where only one doctor, Sonja, remains. Sonja is already overburdened and has no desire to add to her responsibilities, but then unlikely companionship forms between the three characters.
Most describe this book as beautifully written, but some have trouble following the shifting timelines. You’ll want a lighter-right after this one, but most reviews say it’s worth meeting these characters and learning about a lesser-known piece of history.
Border: A Journey to the Edge of Europe
by Kapka Kassabova
Setting: BULGARIA
This travel narrative explores the author’s birthplace in Bulgaria, near the Turkish and Greek border, which she left 25 years prior.
Border is a multifaceted look at Eastern Europe post-cold war, including the contemporary migrant crisis as people have fled Syria and Iraq on foot. The book covers human experiences in this Eastern European region, political factors, and describes the varied landscape from the beaches of the “red Riveria” to dense forests.
I Served the King of England
by Bohumil Hrabal
Setting: CZECHIA (formerly the Czech Republic)
This book was first circulated as a typewritten copy in 1971, during a period of censorship in Czechoslovakia, and was formally published for the first time in 1983. It is "an extraordinary and subtly tragicomic novel" (The New York Times) that follows the misadventure of ambitious Ditie who works as a busboy and waiter throughout the deluxe hotels of pre-WWII Prague. He is told that his job is the see nothing and hear nothing.
As WWII draws to a close, a briefcase full of valuable stamps comes into Ditie's possession. He sells them and is able to reach the heights of his ambition - building his own hotel. He becomes a millionaire, but following the communist takeover, he loses everything and is sentenced to a "millionaire's prison," in which the inmates live in high style and have access to all the luxuries they had on the outside.
The Book Girls Say... This unusual but highly entertaining story was also made into a 2006 film, which is available via Prime Video.
The Eighth Sister
by Robert Dugoni
Setting: RUSSIA
Charles is retired from the CIA, but with a new baby on the way, finds himself desperate for money. When his former bureau chief shows up with a risky new assignment that would take undercover in Moscow, he agrees to the mission because he can't afford not to.
He is charged with locating a Russian agent who is believed to be killing members of a US spy cell, but when identifies the agent, he discovers she's not who he was led to believe. Charles soon finds himself abandoned by the agency he serves and fighting to survive a deadly game of cat and mouse.
The Book Girls Say... Fans of The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell will recognize this author, although this pulse-pounding thriller is of a very different style. The Kindle version is currently free with Kindle Unlimited.
The Rodchenkov Affair
by Grigory Rodchenkov
Setting: RUSSIA
In this memoir, which was named the 2020 William Hill Sports Book of the Year, and which tells the full story behind the 2017 Oscar Award-winning film, Icarus, the author details how he was the mastermind behind, and then the whistleblower that brought down, Russia's secret doping empire.
This story charts Rodchenkov's childhood growing up behind the Iron Curtain, his first encounter with doping as a student-athlete at Moscow State University, and his career working for the Soviet Olympic Committee.
In 2015, Russia's Anti-Doping Centre was suspended by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) following revelations of an elaborate state-sponsored doping program at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. The doping program involving a nearly undetectable steroid delivery system known as 'Duchesse cocktail', as well as tampering with and switching of urine samples in a complex state-sanctioned cover-up.
The Shadow in the East: Vladimir Putin and the New Baltic Front
by Aliide Naylor
Setting: ESTONIA, LATVIA, and LITHUANIA
Based on her extensive research and work as a journalist, Aliide Naylor takes us inside the current geopoltitics of the Baltic region. Naylor's maternal grandmother escaped from Estonia at the end of WW2, and she has lived in both St. Petersburg and Moscow, giving her insight into the Baltics from both sides of the fence.
Traveling to the heart of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania she explores modernity in the region that birthed Skype, investigates smuggling and reports of troop movements in the borderlands, and explains the countries' unique cultural identities. Naylor provides historical context for current events and argues persuasively why the Baltics matter and why this region is about to become the new frontline in the political struggle between East and West.
In Search of Kazakhstan
by Christopher Robbins
Setting: Kazakhstan
Despite being the 9th largest country in the world (by sq miles), little is known about life in Kazakhstan. In this travel memoir, Christopher Robbins explores the hugely varied landscape, mixing in humor and history along the way.
With topics ranging from apple orchards to gulags (labor camps), this book is the perfect primer on the country. There is some criticism that the book highlights the positive aspects of then-President Nursultan Ábishuly Nazarbayev without giving the full picture, so additional research may be needed before forming a full opinion of him
This book was previously titled Apples are from Kazakhstan.
Home is Nearby
by Magdalena MacGuire
Setting: Poland, 1980s
Ania grew up in a small country village in Poland, but moves to Wroclaw to pursue her dream of being a sculptor. When she falls in love with a writer, Dominik, she enters a world of parties with other avant-garde artists.
Suddenly, in 1980, communist tanks become a common sight in town. The artistic community is pushed underground, but they are ready to fight back.
The Light in Hidden Places
by Sharon Cameron
Setting: Poland, WW2
This YA historical fiction is based on the true story of Stefania Podgorska. This heroic 16-year-old works for a Jewish family in their grocery store until German soldiers arrive in town. The family is forced to the ghetto and Stefania, who is Catholic, is left in the abandoned town and must care for her 6-year-old sister alone.
When one of the sons of her employer jumps from a train headed for a death camp, he shows up at Stefania's home. She agrees to hide him, and eventually twelve other Jewish members of her town. When the enemy knocks on the door to billet in her home, she has to make some serious decisions.
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Thanks again for this great list of suggested reading. I’ve found at least a half-dozen books that appeal to me! Luckily one of them is already waiting on my shelf so I can start today!
Question: what is the best way to send you some suggestions of books about the upcoming “Continents” before it is too late?