This metafictional debut novel juxtaposes the story of a rescue of snails with conversations around war and survival
When Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, writer and opera librettist Maria Reva, born in Ukraine, bred in Canada, was in the middle of writing her debut novel set in the country of her birth. It was a story about a rescue of snails, particularly “endlings” or the last of a species, woven through the world of dating or the infamous romance tour industry in which young bachelors swooped in on Ukraine to shop for docile, beautiful brides.
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Reva paused in her endeavour, and wondered how to carry on with a fictional tale during war. How could she write about Ukraine without talking about the invasion, and more importantly, how could she do it from Canada, far removed as she was from the atrocity taking place on the ground? She grappled with these questions and came up with an idea. In dramatic operatic fashion, Reva decided to fold all these questions into her novel by inserting herself as a character. The metafictional strand works because of the skilful way in which Reva handles the fiction/non-fiction plot, though the shape-shifting narrative has divided readers.
Longlisted for The Booker Prize 2025, Reva’s Endling begins with snail scientist Yeva unable to rely on government and NGO grants anymore to fund research on extinct species. She joins a marriage agency and becomes a “bride” so that she can make “decent money” and further refurbish her beloved mobile lab where she lives and travels for her scientific missions. She soon runs into two sisters — Nastia and Sol, plotting a hostage drama — who want to use Yeva’s van.
Unknown to the 13 “bachelors” who will be lured into a journey, the sisters have planned the stunt hoping it will make their mother resurface. Iolanta Cherno, their fiery activist mother who led many protests against “sexpats” in Ukraine, had disappeared one day.
As explosions are heard all around — explained off as fireworks to the men — the three take off with the hostages. At this point, the interlude appears with Reva explaining to her agent why she is finding it impossible to carry on with her novel. “I was writing about a so-called invasion of Western bachelors to Ukraine, and then an actual invasion happened. To continue now seems unforgivable.”
Author Maria Reva | Photo Credit: Anya Chibis
But Reva will find a way out, and soon Yeva, and the two sisters, will be racing across Ukraine to Kherson, as a potential mate for Lefty, a precious snail endling in Yeva’s custody, has been spotted. Incidentally, Kherson is where Reva’s grandfather lives and chooses to stay behind even as the war escalates.
Throughout the book, even in the grimmest of times, there’s humour, mostly as a coping mechanism to process the world of war and uncertainty. The novel turns corners and tables, says Percival Everett in a blurb; Ann Patchett calls it funny, full of science, longing and adventure. Both acclaimed writers use the word ‘smart’ to describe this debut work.
The twists and turns don’t always work, but the universal story of survival and extinction, love and hope, shines a light amid the darkness. There’s also a treasure trove of information on snails. As Reva has said in interviews, she was inspired by Ed Yong’s article, ‘The Last of its Kind’, about a biologist in Hawaii taking care of snail endlings.
Endling Maria RevaHachette India₹799
