Black Angel

The “Non-Canonical Canon” series is a way to talk about those we didn’t know, whose texts we read without understanding the context of their time. Each text is accompanied by reading guides from Ukrainian literary scholars.

Early 1920s. Soviet power is being established in Ukraine, but those who fought under blue-and-yellow flags continue their desperate struggle.

At the center is agronomist Artem Haiduchenko, who establishes a commune in a long-abandoned noble estate. He becomes obsessed with a doomed idea — to discover chemical formulas that would provide humanity with energy and abundant harvests. The arrival of his younger brother Petro, who continues the fight for the Ukrainian cause, becomes fatal for the settlement.