Olha Oshu Knihy

Roxolana had it made. With Mr. Perfect at her side and a university degree all wrapped up, she had everything a career -minded mother-to-be could wish for. That was until her marriage started to disintegrate, throwing her into deep personal turmoil, and she finds herself returning to the Carpathian Mountains, her childhoods cradle, hoping to rediscover love, security and the inner piece she always felt there. Before she reaches her destination, she awakes in Mavka's kingdom - a realm from the depths of Ukrainian legend. As the ancient story goes, the love of all humankind has been kept safely somewhere in this kingdom after it was banished from the rest of the world by Benedict - the embodiment of all the world's evils. At the outset, a goddess of Mavka's kingdom proceeds to guide her through a series of pitfalls and traps set by its inhabitants, all seeking to prevent those from the rest of the world from discovering the true meaning of love hidden within the realm. Through her trials and encounters, she gradually comes to understand that love is the result of developing one's own inner richness, and that it is not stored in heaven as preached by Benedict.

A long time ago, when there were no boundaries on Earth and people lived in harmony with each other, love was worshipped as the greatest miracle in the universe. Roxolana is utterly alone in the world. After leaving her loveless marriage, she finds herself pregnant but homeless, desperate to provide for the life growing inside her but unable to even support herself. With no other options, she journeys back to her childhood home in the Carpathian Mountains, unaware that another journey is about to take place: an extraordinary spiritual journey of hope and growth. Roxolana's arrival in the mountains brings back her childhood memories of a remarkable local legend, a legend of love and loss, greed and lust, innocence, and magic; a legend that will change her life forever. A touching, deeply personal story of individual growth, overcoming adversity and rekindling hope and love, swathed in the rich culture and folklore of Ukraine, He & She is a spellbinding debut.