ENG: Kateryna Babkina—My Grandfather Was the Best Dancer

1. Five Families—One StoryAt the heart of the plot are five children who started school together in 1991, during Ukraine’s first year of independence. Each story is a separate account of one of these families. The author skillfully weaves their fates together, showing that we are all connected by a shared historical context.
2. The Metaphor of “Dance”The book’s title refers to the grandfather of one of the characters—a Jewish man who survived the horrors of war but retained an amazing zest for life and a talent for dance.
Symbol: This is an image of resilience. Even when the world around them is falling apart, people have something “of their own” (dance, love, memories) that allows them to remain human.
3. Inherited TraumaBabkina raises the important topic of transgenerational trauma. She shows:
How the fears of grandmothers who survived the famine influence their grandchildren’s eating habits.
How unspoken words and family secrets prevent young people from building their own relationships.
How the characters try to “cleanse” their lives of the sticky pain of the past so they can finally be happy.
4. The Atmosphere of the 90s and the PresentThe book is very atmospheric. It accurately captures the spirit of a time of transition: poverty, the decline of old ideals, and the birth of a new country. The characters grow up alongside independence, searching for their identity in a world where the old rules no longer apply and the new ones have not yet been written.