The Apartment on Lepky Street

The acclaimed novel from prize-winning Ukrainian journalist and posthumous winner of the Orwell Prize

Through the story of one family in post-Soviet Lviv, The Apartment on Lepky Street is the story of a city and a nation grappling with the meaning of homeland and history, narrated by an inimitably charming abandoned dog.

Through the story of one family in post-Soviet Lviv, The Apartment on Lepky Street is the story of a city and a nation grappling with the meaning of homeland and history, narrated by an inimitably charming abandoned dog.

By turns deeply poignant and charming, The Apartment on Lepky Street tells the story of one family in post-Soviet Lviv through the eyes – and nose – of their adopted poodle, Dominicus, or Dom for short.

Because it is hard, if not impossible, for the people to talk about the city's complicated past and their own traumatic memories of Soviet and Nazi atrocities, it is Dom who accepts the challenge of picking up the traces of the family story and Ukrainian history. As Dom astutely observes the shifting world around him, he narrates a beguiling reflection on the nature of home, history and belonging in a country whose very identity is under constant threat.

Already translated into multiple languages and a finalist for the European Union Prize for Literature, The Apartment on Lepky Street is the much acclaimed novel from award-winning journalist Viktoria Amelina, who was killed in 2023 by a Russian missile strike.