Strong Roots with Olia Hercules - Wednesday 18th June
Join us on Wednesday 18th June for an evening with Olia Hercules, in conversation about her new family memoir, Strong Roots: A Ukrainian Family Story through War, Exile and Hope. We'll have a discussion with Olia, audience Q&A and Olia will sign copies of the book.
About Olia Hercules
Olia Hercules was born in Ukraine and forged a career as a chef in the UK. She is the author of the award-winning cookbooks Mamushka, Kaukasis and Summer Kitchens.
About Strong Roots
'An instant classic' NIGELLA LAWSON
'It is the roots that keep the trees from falling during a storm. Olia Hercules tells us that the same is true for people and nations' SERHII PLOKHY
I am writing this story without knowing its end: it begins long before I was born and will continue long after I die. I am writing this story to help myself heal and to make you understand.
When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Ukrainian chef Olia Hercules decided it was finally time to tell her story.
Strong Roots is the story of a century in Ukraine told through four generations of one extraordinary family. It takes us from years of Russification, to Olia's grandmother's deportation to snowy wastelands under Stalin, to her Aunt Zhenia's school protest, to her own parents' flight from Ukraine when their town was occupied in 2022.
This is an ode to the land, to ideas of home and belonging, and to family stories and recipes passed down the generations – the tang of sour cherries, the best way to make borsch. It is an account of resilience in the hardest of circumstances.
Strong Roots brims with hope and grief. It lays bare the compromises and betrayals of generations struggling and surviving through war, peace, invasion and exile. It is an uplifting reminder of how much the human spirit can endure when born from a land rich with strong roots.
Signed copies of the book will be available to purchase on the day, £10 of the ticket price is redeemable against the book.
Location: Honey & Co Studio, 47 Lambs Conduit Street, Bloomsbury, WC1N 3NG
Timings: Wednesday 18th June, doors open 6.30pm for 7pm
Price: £15, with £10 redeemable against a purchase of the cookbook
Please note tickets are non-refundable.
