The Lost Year: A Survival Story of the Ukrainian Famine

Mila gets home late, but Dasha doesn’t seem to notice. While Dasha finishes dinner, they talk about the upcoming May Day celebration. She and Katya are on a special committee for the holiday preparations, which Mila says kept her out later than usual. When Papa gets home, Mila doesn’t want to be around him but ends up asking him if there are bodies under the Besarabsky. He gets upset, insisting her classmates are spreading stories. Finally, Mila agrees to cuddle with Papa and hear his story about Maxim Gorky. While listening, she wishes things could return to how they were with Papa before Nadiya showed up.

Matthew researches Maxim Gorky online and discovers other information about the Moscow farmers and workers in 1933. Mom interrupts him, checking in about his schoolwork. She’s frustrated that he hasn’t been uploading his assignments on his own. They get into an argument, which upsets Matthew. After Mom leaves, Mathew writes in his notebook about how much he hates Mom and misses Dad. Then he comforts himself thinking about GG’s story and trying to make sense of it.

Mama returns from her cleaning jobs with several bolts of fabric. Pop hasn’t been able to work since his heart attack, so Mama is taking on extra work. Helen offers to help her or to find someone else to help her, but Mama doesn’t want to ask anyone else. She reveals that many of their neighbors and friends have already loaned them money and food to help them cover expenses since Pop got sick. These friends also have family members they’re worried about overseas. That night, Helen decides that she’ll interview her neighbors about their stories. On Saturday, she visits Mr. Oleynik and he tells her about his sister’s family in Ukraine. He then gives Helen the names of other Ukrainian families with similar stories to whom she might want to talk. 

Mila returns to Anna’s after school. She’s glad to see that Nadiya is eating and looks a little better. Anna explains that she and Olga will care for Nadiya as long as they can but makes Mila swear not to tell anyone, even Katya. Helen realizes she’ll have to come up with a lie to explain her whereabouts during her visits to Anna’s.

Mila visits Nadiya and wants to know more about her story because she still doesn’t fully believe it. Nadiya tells her about her family and everything they’ve suffered. Mila doesn’t understand. If Nadiya’s dad is Papa’s brother, Papa is a kulak. She argues with Nadiya, but Nadiya starts crying, insisting that the government is starving the peasants. Mila backs down, assuring her they have plenty of time to keep talking when Nadiya feels stronger.

Matthew does more research on the Ukrainian famine. Afterward, he talks to Dad on the phone about the Holodomor and the Soviet Union. Then, Matthew starts despairing about being stuck at home. Matthew and Josh text, but he doesn’t believe Josh’s stories about COVID-19. He and Dad have a trip in Paris planned for the summer, and Matthew is convinced it’ll happen, no matter what.

Helen’s family walks to church for Easter Mass. Helen lies when Mama asks about her cross, pretending she just forgot to put it on. Secretly, she worries that her cousins never received it, as she hasn’t heard back from them. Mama confronts her about asking people about the famine. She’s worried Helen will upset them, but Helen wants to use the stories to make change. She thinks about this throughout Mass and decides she’ll write the New York Times letter after all.

At the library, Helen shows Ruth the draft of her New York Times letter. Ruth gives her edits, which upsets Helen. Ruth insists that she’s simply improving Helen’s writing, which needs to sound bolder. She assures Helen that it’s okay to be different, and the letter is her way of showing she’s proud of her identity and roots. After Ruth leaves, Helen realizes that everything Ruth told her was right and that Ruth, who is Jewish, has troubles of her own. She incorporates Ruth’s edits into the letter and feels proud of herself when she puts it into the mail on her way home.

Mila sneaks into Papa’s office while Dasha is doing laundry and Papa is out. She digs around in his desk, expecting to find a document from the orphanage where he grew up. Instead, she finds a letter from Nadiya’s mother in a secret compartment in one of his drawers. She hurriedly returns the letter when Papa enters. He gives her some Bumble Bears chocolates and offers to tell her a story, but she excuses herself to do schoolwork.

Mila and Katya have their Motherless Daughters meeting. Mila invents an excuse to explain why she can’t spend as much time with Katya now after school. She doesn’t want Katya to know about Nadiya and pretends that she and Anna are working on a new piano piece.

Matthew tries asking questions about GG’s latest segment of the story, but GG says she’s done talking for the day. Matthew gets the idea to take GG for a walk and carefully leads her outside, wearing a mask. Not long later, GG pulls down her mask and encourages Matthew to do the same so they can smell the spring air. Suddenly, Mom appears, racing over and insisting they get inside. GG lies and says the walk was her idea. Inside, Matthew unloads the dishwasher while thinking about Mila’s story.

Mila visits Nadiya at Anna’s again. She assures Anna she’s told Dasha a good cover story. Afterward, Mila shares her chocolate with Nadiya, and they talk more about their lives. Nadiya hopes she won’t have to go to the orphanage and that her other uncle might bring her to the US. Finally, Mila reveals what she found in Papa’s desk, admitting that she now believes Nadiya’s story. Nadiya doesn’t blame her for doubting her because her father never told her the truth. Then Mila plays Tchaikovsky for Nadiya, making her cry. Before Mila leaves, she apologizes to Nadiya for questioning her story.

Matthew interrupts GG’s story. He’s realized that GG had siblings and wants to know what happened to them. GG has him open a folder containing Helen’s oral history.

On the walk home from school, Helen daydreams about receiving replies from the New York Times, but Peter interrupts her thoughts, challenging her to a race. Back home, she finds an envelope addressed to her from Kyiv. Its contents upset her.

Helen shows Mama the letter, which reveals that everyone in Pop’s family died except his niece, Nadiya. Helen wants to tell Pop so he can ask his lawyer for help saving Nadiya. Mama forbids her to do so, fearing that she’ll upset him. Helen storms out, and Mama bursts into tears. In the kitchen, Pop tells Helen to show him the letter. He’s upset, but immediately gets dressed to go see his lawyer and invites Helen to join.

Mila and Nadiya walk into town and climb onto the bell tower’s viewing platform. While studying the view, Nadiya tells Mila what happened to her family. The police arrested her dad and sent him to Siberia, where he died. Then, she, her mom, and her brothers, Mykola and Antin, were sent to a collective farm, where they struggled to survive. The government took all their grain and gave them one bowl of soup a day for the whole family. One day, the police threatened to arrest her mom for stealing food but ended up taking their cow instead. Without the cow, the boys died. Before Nadiya’s mom died, she gave Nadiya a nightgown and cross necklace her cousin Helen sent from the US. She told her to trade it in for safe passage to her uncle’s house in Kyiv. Shocked, Mila bursts out in anger at her father’s cruelty. Nadiya quiets her and they return to Anna’s house together.

Matthew notices how upset GG looks while relaying her story. He tells her he’s sorry about all that she’s lost. GG gets upset and demands that he leave. In his room, he tries calling Dad, but Dad doesn’t pick up. He texts Josh, who’s passing by the house on a walk. The friends wave through the window. Afterward, Matthew sneaks into GG’s room with a bag of chocolates and apologizes for upsetting her. They eat the candies together, and Matthew stows the rest in GG’s room. While cleaning up GG’s papers, he discovers a letter addressed to Helen.

At the library, Helen shows Ruth the letter the New York Times editor sent her. She’s angry that the editor is questioning her story because she didn’t include firsthand accounts. Ruth suggests that she find some other stories to prove her claims. Helen wonders if she can use Nadiya’s story.

Dad calls Matthew to tell him they have to cancel their summer Paris trip. He and Mom don’t think it will be safe to travel by then. Matthew is furious and gets upset. After getting off the phone, he tells GG what happened. Instead of responding, she simply points to a box marked with Mila’s name.