Assumptions and Misunderstandings
Memoir of an Unwitting Spy - Anne Bates Linden - Book Review
Jun 10, 2007
The period after the disintegration of the Soviet Union was a time of transition in Eastern European history. In the early 1990s, Ukraine was out from under Russia’s yolk but still functioned under Soviet norms – which meant businesses were State owned and inflexible in their policies. When Anne Bates Linden arrived in Ukraine as a Peace Corps volunteer fully prepared to use her accounting credentials to help bring a Ukrainian town’s business prospects up to speed, she learned quickly that what she knew could not be applied to a system that was wrought with such integrated corruption.
What frustration Linden experienced while attempting to stay true to her mission in Ukraine was balanced by the acts of kindness, generosity, and gratitude she received from Ukrainians, fellow Peace Corps volunteers, and friends made during her 2-year stint in Ukraine. Her memoir of the first 13 months spent Kolomiya, Ukraine, Assumptions and Misunderstandings: Memoir of an Unwitting Spy, relates both her obstacles and successes in this newly independent nation.
Readers of Assumptions and Misunderstandings will get a first-hand account of the ubiquitous bread lines, trouble with public transportation, changing government directives, secret police scare tactics, mentality of players in a communist-era economy, and the scarcity of basic necessities characteristic of post-Soviet Ukraine. In addition, a nice helping of Ukrainian culture and hospitality is thrown into the mix, making clear how Linden was able to withstand unheated living quarters, the unhelpful attitudes of criminal city officials, and the resentment of those with whom American prosperity existed as a sore point.
Assumptions and Misunderstandings is a book that depicts a moment in Ukrainian history that not only highlights the strategies that were used to survive in Eastern Europe during the immediate post-Soviet years, but it acts as wonderful source material from which to identify some of Eastern Europe’s problems adjusting to capitalism. Poor customer service, bribery, and loosely enforced laws keep the business sector of some parts of Eastern Europe with one foot in the Soviet era.
Anne Bates Linden’s book is available from her website, Ukraine Works. Linden will donate all of her proceeds to her current Ukrainian project, helping orphans and at-risk children. Also featured on her site are direct donation opportunities, folk artists, and handy bag you may purchase to promote green tourism. Related books may also be purchased from Ukraine Orphans, a website dedicated to helping the orphans of the Ukraine..
