The latest addition to my website is Maryna and Serhiy Dyachenko‘s Vita Nostra (Vita Nostra). This is a decidedly strange book as we follow the story of Sasha, a sixteen year old. While on holiday with her mother, she is persuaded by a strange man to perform seemingly pointless tasks. Later she is persuaded by him to abandon her academic dreams and go to a college in a remote town which she agrees to do. When there she and the other students find that the main course- Specialty – is hugely demanding and seemingly pointless, yet the teachers drive then on. With a huge struggle, Sasha manages to grasp the course and finds that she is changing both mentally and physically . But who are these teachers and what do they want?