We meet anonymous women from the periphery of Ukrainian society in Lucky Breaks, whose lives have been upended by the ongoing confrontation with Russia. When a beautiful florist suddenly vanishes, her shop has been turned into a propaganda warehouse; while neighbours are sheltering from the shelling, they read horoscopes in the local newspaper that indicate when it is safe for them to go outside. A woman, bewildered by her broken umbrella, tries to abandon it like a sick relative. Yevgenia Belorusets talks of trauma amid the banal in her stories of linguistic vivacity and absurdist humour; she tells bizarre, unnerving tales of survival in a broken nation.