48 pages • 1 hour read
Katherine MarshThe Lost Year: A Survival Story of the Ukrainian Famine
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2023A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapter 35-EpilogueChapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 35 Summary: “Mila, Kyiv, Ukraine, USSR, 1933”
On May 31, Mila prepares for the local May Day celebration. She marches, sings, and waves with the Young Pioneers. Afterward, she tells Katya she’s visiting a friend before she comes to her May Day party and heads to Anna’s to see Nadiya. When she arrives, Olga informs her that the police took Anna and Nadiya away, but she doesn’t know where they are. She guesses someone reported them for hiding Nadiya. Mila can’t help but wonder if Katya discovered the truth and turned her in. However, Katya doesn’t seem to know anything about Nadiya or Anna when Mila arrives at her party. Mila decides Papa must be to blame.
Chapter 36 Summary: “Mila, Kyiv, Ukraine, USSR, 1933”
Back home, Mila confronts Papa about Anna and Nadiya. Papa acts confused, but Mila thinks he’s lying. He assures her that everything he’s done has been to protect her because he loves her. Mila still can’t understand why he wouldn’t help his family and lied about having brothers.
Hours later, Mila, Dasha, and Papa have dinner. Papa tries talking to Mila again, but Mila ignores him. Afterward, she tries talking to Dasha, but Dasha won’t look at her and tells Mila to go to bed. Shortly after falling asleep, Mila is awoken by knocks on the door. It is the secret police.
Chapter 37 Summary: “Mila, Kyiv, Ukraine, USSR, 1933”
Mila races downstairs, convinced the police want to take her away. Then, she realizes they’re there for Papa. She argues with them, insisting she’s the one who hid Nadiya, not Papa. The police don’t listen. Then Dasha comes downstairs with Mila’s suitcase. After the police take Papa away, Mila realizes Dasha reported them. Papa knew what would happen and told Dasha to pack Mila’s suitcase. One of the officers takes Mila away. She realizes she’s going to the Collector.
Chapter 38 Summary: “Matthew, Leonia, New Jersey, USA, 2020”
During dinner, Matthew can’t stop thinking about “Mila watching the police drag away Papa” (246). Meanwhile, the TV reports on coronavirus deaths. Suddenly furious that Mom ruined his summer with Dad, Matthew throws the ketchup bottle, yells at Mom, and storms off to his room. Josh texts saying he’s outside, and Matthew races to the porch to see him. However, he’s rude to Josh and doesn’t talk to him when he sees him with his dad. Back in his room, he journals about his feelings. Mom comes in and tries to talk, but Matthew wants to be alone.
Chapter 39 Summary: “Mila, Kyiv, Ukraine, USSR, 1933”
At the Collector, the matron, Irina Ivanovna, shaves Mila’s head so she won’t get lice. Mila tries to tell her she doesn’t belong there, because she and Papa are innocent. Irina ignores her and rifles through her suitcase. She takes Mila’s chocolates, but lets her keep her coat. Then, she shows her to the barracks, where thin children are lying on cots without blankets. In the morning, Mila reports to the dining hall for a mug of broth. She’s shocked to encounter Nadiya there.
Chapter 40 Summary: “Helen, Brooklyn, New York, USA, 1933”
Weeks pass with no news from Pop’s lawyer about Nadiya. Helen worries that she isn’t okay but feels better once she and Peter start planning for her arrival. She imagines them becoming like sisters. Back at home, Helen immediately notices something is wrong. Mama informs her that the lawyer told them “they can’t find Nadiya” (260). Helen panics, desperate to help her.
Chapter 41 Summary: “Mila, Kyiv, Ukraine, USSR, 1933”
Nadiya tells Mila the secret police took Anna away and dropped her at the Collector. Another girl named Vera interrupts their conversation, remarking on how similar Mila and Nadiya look. Nadiya plays along, confirming that they’re sisters. Afterward, she tells Mila they won’t get separated if everyone thinks they’re siblings. Mila wonders if they would have a better chance of surviving on the streets, but Nadiya doesn’t think so. She tells Mila that they should try going to New York with their other uncle instead, but Mila isn’t sure. That night, Mila wakes up to a louse biting her. The girls curl up on the same mattress and comfort each other. Mila feels sad that she’ll never see Papa again. Nadiya reminds her they have to survive no matter what happens.
Chapter 42 Summary: “Matthew, Leonia, New Jersey, USA, 2020”
Matthew interrupts GG’s story, horrified that Mila got typhus from the lice and died. GG’s eyes well up and she grasps Matthew’s hand, reminding him that life isn’t always fair. Then she shows him a picture of Anna and they remember her together. Afterward, Matthew and Mom talk. Matthew asks her about losing her mom and how she survived her sadness. Remembering Mila, he thinks about missing his dad, too. Afterward, Matthew takes some ice cream to GG, ready to hear more of Mila’s story.
Chapter 43 Summary: “Mila, Kyiv, Ukraine, USSR, 1933”
Mila feels sick the next morning and can’t get up. Nadiya tells everyone she has a headache so she doesn’t get sent to the infirmary. She lies with Mila, too, although Mila fears she’ll infect her. Mila has a fever and drifts in and out of dreams and hallucinations.
Chapter 44 Summary: “Helen, Brooklyn, New York, USA, 1933”
Helen and Pop chat in the park while waiting to meet with the lawyer, who has news for them. Pop tells Helen a bit about coming to the US, and about his brothers, Mykola, Stepan, Volodymyr, and Lev. Helen is shocked to learn that Lev joined the party and disowned his family. Afterward, they meet with the lawyer, who informs them they found Nadiya at an orphanage and Pop will have to go to Kyiv to collect her.
Chapter 45 Summary: “Mila, Kyiv, Ukraine, USSR, 1933”
Mila wakes up in the infirmary. Dr. Zima informs her that she contracted typhus but will survive. She asks about seeing her sister Nadiya, but Dr. Zima says that Nadiya isn’t her sister. He discovered the truth because Nadiya contracted typhus, too, and died in the night. She couldn’t survive because she was malnourished. Because Mila wasn’t malnourished, the typhus didn’t kill her.
Chapter 46 Summary: “Matthew, Leonia, New Jersey, USA, 2020”
Matthew interrupts GG’s story, shocked and confused. Then he realizes that GG is actually Mila. She explains that she became Nadiya to survive.
Chapter 47 Summary: “Mila, Kyiv, Ukraine, USSR, 1933”
Shortly after recovering, Mila encounters Katya at the orphanage. Katya informs Mila that her dad was shot for being a traitor. A week later, the matron calls out Mila’s last name and tells her to go to the director’s office. In the office, she realizes the director thinks she’s Nadiya. Her uncle Vanya from the US is there and wants to take her home with him. Mila agrees to go but doesn’t tell Vanya she’s his other niece. She runs to Dr. Zima afterward, begging him to pretend that she is Nadiya and that Mila is dead. Dr. Zima agrees and manipulates the paperwork accordingly. When she leaves the orphanage, she says goodbye to her friends, and to her life as Mila, too.
Chapter 48 Summary: “Mila, New York, New York, USA, 1933”
Mila takes the boat back to the US with Vanya. She considers telling him the truth throughout the trip but is terrified he’ll abandon her if she does. In New York, she meets her aunt and cousins. She stays close to Helen and even considers telling her that she isn’t Nadiya. However, she realizes the family loves Nadiya and she doesn’t want to hurt them.
Chapter 49 Summary: “Helen, Brooklyn, New York, USA, 1933”
Pop takes photos of the family, including one of Nadiya and Helen. Afterward, Helen tries asking Nadiya about her past. She wants to use her story in her reporting, but Nadiya refuses.
Chapter 50 Summary: “Matthew, Leonia, New Jersey, USA, 2020”
GG admits to Matthew that she never told Helen who she really was. Helen eventually became an independent researcher and reporter and spent years documenting Ukrainian stories after interviewing New Yorkers from Ukraine. GG shows Matthew articles on Helen and a letter Helen sent her. GG never responded and distanced herself from the family over the years. Finally, Matthew asks if he can tell her, Helen, and Nadiya’s stories, and she agrees.
Chapter 51 Summary: “Matthew, Leonia, New Jersey, USA, 2020”
Matthew starts working with GG’s documents to write her story. Feeling overwhelmed, he calls Dad for advice. Dad is excited about the project and gives him some tips. Afterward, Matthew decides to make a video telling the story instead.
Chapter 52 Summary: Matthew, Leonia, New Jersey, USA, 2020”
Matthew records a series of videos telling GG’s story and explaining the letters, articles, journals, and photos GG shared with him. In the last video, GG goes on camera and identifies herself as Mila. The morning after they finish the project, GG dies.
Chapter 53 Summary: “Matthew, Leonia, New Jersey, USA, 2020”
Matthew shows Mom his video series. Mom cries at the end, sad that Mila didn’t feel she could tell her the truth. However, she thanks Matthew for telling her story.
Epilogue Summary: “Matthew”
On November 13, Matthew and Mom visit GG’s grave in Jackson for her birthday. They bring her chocolates and talk to her. Matthew hopes she’s enjoying heaven with Nadiya and Helen.
Chapter 35-Epilogue Analysis
The final chapters of the novel lead the narrative through its climax, descending action, denouement, and resolution. This third section also further develops the novel’s overarching thematic explorations concerning personal identity, family stories, and The Challenges of Widespread Crises. Throughout the entirety of the novel, Matthew, Mila, and Helen have been combatting various personal, political, and global challenges. Matthew has found it difficult to survive the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown because he feels isolated and alone. Mila has found it difficult to continue loving her father and engaging in her home life because she is desperate to save her cousin Nadiya from the Holodomor. Meanwhile, Helen tries to remain positive and helpful in her Brooklyn home, as her family attempts to survive the Great Depression and to deliver her cousin Nadiya from Kyiv. This network of conflicts has gradually changed the ways in which the three main characters see themselves and how they perceive the truth. The events of Chapters 44-47 act as the narrative climax, which is the reveal that GG is Mila and not Nadiya. This revelation changes all of the characters’ relationships with truth and reality and forces them to reflect on who they are and How Family Stories Shape Identity.
Mila’s decision to assume her cousin Nadiya’s identity after Nadiya dies of typhus changes her life. Before she and Nadiya get sick, Mila thinks that losing her father and home are the biggest tragedies she has and will ever experience. In Chapter 39, she’s devastated when Irina cuts off all of her hair and takes her chocolates from her suitcase. She isn’t accustomed to going without, and these small losses sadden and overwhelm her. Then, in Chapter 41, she experiences “a physical ache” and “a rising panic” (267) when she realizes that she might never see her father again. Mila doubts her ability to survive these experiences because she isn’t familiar with loss. Indeed, at the start of the novel, the greatest sadness she can think of having experienced is receiving the lice in the envelope in the mail. She has lived a privileged, comfortable existence that has sheltered her from true hardship. Because of Mila’s past experiences, she cannot anticipate how Nadiya’s death will impact her and change her ideas about truth, reality, and self. Matthew’s understanding of truth similarly changes when he sees the “ghost of young Mila” (293) on his great-grandmother’s face. For the first time in her life, GG is telling her real story and confessing her greatest secret. This revelation disrupts Matthew’s understanding of who he is and where he comes from. However, Matthew doesn’t react negatively to GG’s confession. Rather, he embraces GG’s story and expresses his interest in recording what she experienced so that her descendants will know the truth. GG has allowed herself to believe that her personal story will endanger and hurt her loved ones. She has hidden her true identity because she knows that her family didn’t approve of her father’s choices or work. She has also lived under a cloud of shame because of her father’s cruelty to his own family. She found refuge in taking Nadiya’s identity because it freed her from her guilt. At the same time, revealing her secret to Matthew ultimately liberates GG and allows her to die in peace. Her secret has trapped her, but telling her story sets her free.
The narrative tension diffuses after GG tells Matthew who she is, creating space for the characters to reflect and change. This highlights the theme of The Impact of the Past on the Present. For Mila, taking Nadiya’s identity grants her safe passage to America and gives her the opportunity “to chart a different path” (301) for herself. Her journey out of hardship and toward a new life in New York with her family parallels Matthew and Helen’s journeys to move forward with their lives, too. Helen does everything in her power to make a safe home for her cousin after her arrival. Nadiya doesn’t open up to Helen in the way she expects and hopes, but Helen never gives up on her or on pursuing the truth.
The letters and articles that GG shows Matthew in Chapter 50 capture the ways in which Helen’s familial stories and past experiences shaped her personal identity and her worldview throughout her life. Matthew similarly devotes himself to sharing the truth by way of his video project. In Chapter 50, he tells GG that the “world needs to know what really happened to Nadiya” (321) and how much she and Helen loved her. This scene between Matthew and GG conveys Matthew’s personal growth and newfound capacity for empathy, marking a turning point in his character arc. Like his great-aunt Helen, Matthew is determined to preserve the stories of his ancestors and people so that their history cannot be erased. GG, Helen, and Nadiya’s stories have taught Matthew that if personal stories aren’t recorded and shared, they are in danger of disappearing.
GG does die at the end of the novel. However, her death isn’t in vain. She dies knowing that her loved ones know and accept the truth of who she is, and that they will remember what she lived through. The Epilogue grants the narrative a hopeful and resolved ending. The scene of Matthew visiting GG’s grave on her birthday proves that Matthew will not forget his great-grandmother or his great-aunts’ stories. He values these accounts, because they have taught him new things about himself and his history.
