When Russia invaded Ukraine three years ago, Victoria Amelina was writing a novel, enjoying being part of the country's literary scene, and parenting her son.

But she found that fiction seemed inappropriate in the face of so much destruction and devastation so, after taking her son to relatives in Poland, and securing the safe evacuation of other family members, she immersed herself in humanitarian work. 

She wanted to make a difference. She photographed the ruins of schools and cultural centres and she recorded the testimonies of survivors and eyewitnesses to atrocities. And she realised that her writing, her storytelling, was the contribution she could make. 

On the evening of 27 June 2023, Amelina and three international writers stopped for dinner in the Donetsk region. A Russian cruise missile hit the restaurant and Amelina suffered catastrophic injuries. She died a few days later, aged 37.

She had written more than half of this book - in English to reach the widest audience possible - and had sent it to a friend a few days before she was killed. After her funeral, colleagues and family assembled to form an editorial group to publish her writing.

They didn't 'complete' the book but inserted material from earlier drafts and added footnotes and photography to her narrative passages.

The editors said in the afterword: 'Life has taught us that there is only one way to deal with the pain: to continue the work of the people we love.'

It's a difficult book to read, but Victoria's writing is powerful and compelling. She shares not only her own experience and observations but also presents portraits of other extraordinary women - a soldier, a human rights activist, a librarian, a curator.

It's a polished and accomplished account, which has hope and humour but is nevertheless also raw and visceral, particularly in the notes and fragments. It's an important and affecting book.