"In 1986 Soviet Ukraine, four families in a Donetsk maternity ward welcome two boys and two girls into the world. Following a good Soviet tradition of naming things after prominent Communist leaders from far away, a local party functionary, Fink, offers great material benefits to those families who agree to name their children after Ernst Thälmann, the leader of the German Communist Party from 1925 to 1933. The fateful decision is made and the local newspaper presents the newly born Ernst and Thälma in a photo on the cover page, forever tying the four families together. In 'Cecil the Lion Had to Die,' Olena Stiazhkina follows the fate of the families as the world around them undergoes radical transformations when the Soviet Union unexpectedly implodes, independent Ukraine emerges, and neoimperial Russia begins its war by occupying Ukraine's Crimea and parts of the Donbas. Stiazhkina shows how new identities are forged based on distant and recent decisions people make when faced with the situation of a stark choice. Just as Stiazhkina's own decision to transition to writing in Ukrainian as part of her civic stance -- performed between the covers of this book that begins in Russian and ends in Ukrainian -- the choices that the members of the four families make take them in vastly different directions, presenting an image of the Donbas that is multifaceted and nuanced. A tour de force of stylistic registers and intertwining stories, ironic voices and sincere discoveries, this novel is a must read for those who seek to deeper understand Ukrainians from the Donbas, and how history and local identity have shaped the current war with Russia"-- Provided by publisher.