Book
A Handful of Soil
- Hardcover
- ISBN 979-8319133618
- Paperback
- ISBN 979-8865831211
- Kindle
- B0CM231QYM
- EPUB
- ISBN 979-8993534282
- Audiobook
- B0FFTP4SPZ
About
About the Book
He flew to Ukraine for a dead man’s money. The will asked for almost nothing: a passport stamp, a handful of Ukrainian soil, and a trip his grandfather had arranged before his death.
Tony has no interest in ancestry, monasteries, or the mysteries of the dead. He wants the inheritance. Then an old map leads him beneath the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, where Saint Antony’s tomb has remained sealed for more than a thousand years.
No one has seen what lies inside.
The original account of Antony’s life is missing. The surviving records leave questions unanswered. Those who once tried to disturb the tomb were said to have paid for it. And just as Tony begins asking questions, an old monastery legend surfaces again—a figure in black seen only rarely, and never without consequence.
Tony hears superstition.
Then he begins to see connections.
A face he recognizes in an ancient icon. A photograph left by his grandfather. A name chosen for him before he understood what it meant. What looked like an absurd condition in a will starts to feel less like an inheritance and more like instructions.
Soon Tony is no longer thinking about a handful of soil. He is thinking about what could have remained hidden behind a sealed wall for more than a thousand years—and how much it might be worth.
There are men in Kiev willing to help him find out.
Vera is the only one telling him to stop.
The deeper Tony goes, the less certain it becomes that he came to Ukraine by his own decision.
Somewhere beneath the monastery, something that should have remained untouched is waiting for the first stone to move.
The door has been closed for more than a thousand years.
Tony intends to open it.
Excerpt
Read an Excerpt
This excerpt begins with the condition that sends Tony to Ukraine: bring back a handful of soil and claim the inheritance. At first, the journey looks like an inconvenience attached to a dead man's will. But once Tony reaches Kiev, the condition begins to feel less arbitrary. The soil points backward, toward a family history he barely knows and a monastery secret that has remained sealed for centuries. Tony thinks he is completing a condition. He has no idea that the journey has already begun to change the man who came to fulfill it.
Reviews & Endorsements
Reviews
— Ed WilkinsWhile the story drew me in from its own suspense, there are many reflection points. These reflection points make you think about yourself, your past, your future. How your family history has made you and what you will do to add to that history for the next generation. It was more than a good read.
— Eliza SvihraTrust your heart, your mind, your soul—and never fear what they ask of you.
A Handful of Soil written by Andrew Kudin is a nonfiction (which I didn’t know this when I read it) story about Tony, a young man with main character syndrome, struggling to find himself after the death of his estranged grandfather. His grandfather, a wealthy man, has left behind all Tony could ever hope for… but with a catch. He must travel to the land of his ancestors and bring back… soil?
We follow Tony as he starts his journey in the United States of America, not very close with his family, and definitely needing brought down a peg. Upon learning of his grandfathers plot twist, he weighs his choices… or what he thinks are his choices. Little does he know, the choice was long ago made for him. After he comes to the conclusion (or beginning) to go, things don’t turn out easy for him. For once, the main character isn’t getting his way, and nothing is perfect. In a snowball effect of events, Tony learns it’s not just about the soil, but everything he learned leaning up to that point. He sees what his grandfather wanted him to see, and learns more than he ever thought he would. He learns about himself, his family, and what life can really mean for himself and others who were forced to leave their home for search of something “better”… because even if he is American… he’s Ukrainian, too.
Once again, another masterpiece of literary art. As I stated above, I had no idea this was another nonfiction telling of true events. I felt such emotions for Tony as he went along his journey. I cringed with him, I loved with him, I feared with him. At the end, I felt I had learned a bit about my own ancestors in the process. Mr. Kudin truly has a way of making you feel immersed in the story, even if you are just overseeing the events as they unfold. As I read, I just wanted to keep flipping the pages to learn more until it was over… but it isn’t really over. His lesson will sit with me for a lifetime.
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