'Ukrainian' writer owns up to hoax
Your support helps us to tell the story
This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.
The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.
Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.
ROBERT MILLIKEN
Sydney
One of Australia's most bizarre literary hoaxes finally unravelled yesterday when the author of a prize-winning novel admitted that she had lied about her identity. Helen Darville, 24, the Australian-born daughter of British immigrants, apologised to the country's Ukrainian community for her portrayal of them in her prize-winning The Hand that Signed the Paper.
The novel, about the Nazi occupation of Ukraine during the Second World War, presents Ukrainians as collaborators in the persecution of Jews.
Ms Darville published the novel under the name Helen Demidenko and claimed her father was a Ukrainian peasant who narrowly escaped being drafted into the SS. Some critics attacked the novel's portrayal of history and accused Ms Darville of anti-Semitism. She insisted she had based her account on personal family history.
Newspapers in Brisbane, where she lives, last weekend disclosed that she was not Helen Demidenko, but Helen Darville, daughter of Grace and Harry Darville, immigrants from Britain. Her mother later admitted that there was no Ukrainian ancestry in the family.
Yesterday Ms Darville released a statement through Allen & Unwin, her publishers, saying she had taken the name Demidenko "in empathy with my characters ... This was my creative world. I do not have Ukrainian ancestry."
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments