Hell might not look at all like we imagine. About Yuhasya Kalyada's new novel

Yuhasya Kalyada's previous story («Change of Places») was about Judge Albina and a simple village woman Manya, who swapped bodies. Such a Hollywood plot in Belarusian realities — funny, vivid, dramatic, but with the happy ending obligatory for this genre. After that novella, we couldn't wait to see what the writer's next book would be.

In her new novel «Journey by Elevator», reality also mixes with fantasy. It turns out that the places where we once lived never disappear — as long as our memories of them are alive, everything can be restored. And you can even get into your parents' apartment, which no longer exists in the current world. However, not everyone knows about this possibility.

The main character, Lyonik, didn't know about it either, until he ended up in the afterlife. The 'afterlife' where Lyonik was assigned is not at all what we imagine. There, he has to go to work in an office with endless bright corridors and elevators, wear a white uniform and a bracelet that grants access to various rooms, process applications on a computer…

This recalled the atmosphere in the popular American series «Severance» (Severance). According to the plot, people whose lives are unbearable agree to divide their personalities — one part will spend time at work, the other will live a normal life in the evenings and on weekends (and they won't know about each other). In sterile offices, employees sort some numbers on computers all day long, without realizing what lies behind it.

Lyonik, however, understands the meaning of his work. From his computer, access opens to other people's memories and… Well, let's not reveal all the details. But, as in «Severance», it's practically impossible to quit that office and escape into the real world.

Although it's not so bad there, at least at first. If you want — live by the ocean, if you want — at your parents' country house.

But many questions and memories don't give Lyonik peace. Maybe this is hell, and that's why his deceased friends and relatives aren't here? And if it's hell, then why was he, a former factory worker, cast into it? He lived normally, like everyone else. Or does it just seem that way?

Oh, believe me, the more you learn about Lyonik's past, the less you will feel sorry for him. Sometimes you want to give the hero a good slap: snap out of it!

The plot captivates and repeatedly plunges into philosophical reflections. If a person doesn't disappear anywhere after death, is it a continuation of life or not?

“Why did he never understand, couldn't grasp with his foolish, selfish head while he was alive—what happiness he had? Why did he later stop feeling it? Did he close himself off from pain — and along with that, from happiness? Did he fear pain so much that he cut off his own oxygen there?”

Hell doesn't necessarily have to look like a dungeon with fiery rivers and cauldrons where people are boiled alive. It could be an ocean that separates you from everyone you loved and who loved you. And sitting on the shore of that idealistic ocean will be unbearable.

This is a novel about the mistakes of youth, lost friendship and love, guilt, and relationships with parents.

For those whose youth fell on the 1990s and 2000s, the novel will contain many painfully familiar details. Concerts at the «Reaktor» club, floppy disks with coursework, posters of favorite bands on room walls, guitar picks made from payphone cards…

“A typical old entrance in a long-unrenovated building, with walls painted dark green oil paint, but only halfway — further up on the ceiling and walls lay lime in a hundred layers,” — the childhood of many of us passed in such entrances.

The writer said that she meticulously recreated these small details, searching for images and the actual items, so that the reader would feel how real they were.

Павялічыць

The novel also includes a part about the 2020 protests. Lyonik, recalling what happened to him then, tries to find an answer to the question: why did the security forces act so brutally? And the answer to this question surprises him with its simplicity and frightens him at the same time.

Yuhasya Kalyada said at the presentation that she tries to write her books as ready-made film scripts. And it must be said that both «Change of Places» and «Journey by Elevator» could make good films. The latest book — even a series, because after the ending, you want to see a second season: did you understand the finale correctly, and if so, what will the hero do next?

Moreover, many questions about that world with corridors still remain. What else can employees do there? What does a higher level of access unlock? And can one fix their life?

Journey by Elevator. — Vilnius: Pflyaumbauм, 2026

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