Fiction Pick of the Week: Under this Unbroken Sky

Under this Unbroken Sky by Shandi Mitchell 2009

Under this Unbroken Sky by Shandi Mitchell is a character rich historical novel set during the Great Depression in Alberta. Teodor Mykolayenko has returned to his family of wife and five children after he served one year in jail for a minor theft. His wife and children have been living in a tiny 2 room cabin with Teodor’s sister and her family of three.

What I liked about the novel was the rich detail that was presented about the living conditions during the Great Depression in the Prairies. Another redeeming feature was the rich and vivid characterization that was featured in the book. The main character, Teodor was a hard working yet stubborn Ukrainian farmer who risked all to feed his family on his sister’s small farmstead. Teodor’s sister Anna was a tragic figure who was so depressed that she disconnected herself from the people who truly loved her. Some of the descriptions in this book are violent and graphic, yet they are effective in presenting an amazing snapshot of the struggles that immigrants faced in the Prairies in the late 1930s.