On Sunday Morning She Gathered Herbs

Tatiana Nazarenko is an assistant professor of Slavic studies at the
University of Manitoba and program co-ordinator of Central and East
European Studies.

Set in rural Western Ukraine, this novel portrays peasant life as being
far from tedious or simple; the narrative explores deep and complex
conflicts and ardent passions.

The plot is based on a popular Ukrainian folk song about the tragic
fate of a young man torn between two women. Kobylians’ka, however, has
significantly elaborated the folkloric text. The original narrative of
Hryts and his two lovers, Tetiana and Nastia, is complicated through the
insertion of the story about Hryts’s biological mother, the gypsy
Marva. As a young woman, Marva loves two men. Her unfaithfulness to her
husband results in her punishment and ostracism from the gypsy
community. Her baby son is taken from her and she becomes Tetiana’s
spiritual mentor. Being a fortune teller, she advises Hryts, whom she
does not recognize, to choose the blue-eyed woman over the dark-eyed
one. (Marva does not know that the dark-eyed woman is Tetiana.) Marva
also unintentionally equips Tetiana with a powerful weapon of revenge (a
secret poisonous herb), thus indirectly causing the death of her own son
and the girl she helped to raise.

The novel combines romance, melodrama, biblical themes, and Nietzschean
theory, but its principal strength is character development. Mavra and
Tetiana are depicted as strong, fervent and wilful personalities whose
emotions and pride push them over the edge. Mary Skrypnyk’s
translation preserves most of characteristic features of
Kobylians’ka’s style. Targeted at the general public, this edition
is highly recommended.